For bendable and wearable device applications, it is necessary to ensure a sufficiently low processing temperature, usually one that is lower than the glass transition temperature of ordinary plastic sheets. However, it is very challenging to obtain inorganic thin films that contain an acceptable level of electronic defects at such a low temperature. Various attempts have been made to improve the electrical characteristics of the low temperature films, but most of the efforts slowed down the deposition rate considerably.

Catalytic chemical vapor deposition technique (Cat-CVD) has been known for its versatility and advantages such as a fast film growth rate and a high efficiency of gas utilization. These assets, combined with the absence of the atomic-scale damage caused by the bombardment of the charged particles, make this method attractive to applications in low temperature processing of the thin film transistors. Although this technique is still struggling to overcome several obstacles on its way to industrial implementation, it is a powerful research tool that can shed a light not just to finding interesting phenomena when various combinations of process parameters are tried, but also to understanding the behavior of radicals and atoms on the low temperature surfaces.

In this presentation, models of film growth in the catalytic chemical deposition process are discussed, and recent studies, including a surface pre-treatment, on applications to thin film transistors are surveyed.