Thin-film-transistor switching matrix for flat-panel displays

A thin-film-transistor (TFT) switching array suitable as a module for matrix addressing of a wide variety of display media in flat-panel form has been designed and fabricated. The switching matrix and the display medium are on separate substrates. Solder bumps or other suitable contacts are used to connect each switch to the corresponding resolution element of the display. The matrix is a 20-line-per-inch 32 × 32-element array on a 1.6-in-square active area. A 5 × 7-dot character matrix is employed, and a single module will produce four lines of five characters each. The application of this array to an electroluminescent (EL) film display is described.