This paper systematically studies high-current-induced effects, hot-carrier effects, and self-heating effects in flexible low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon thin-film transistors fabricated on polyimide. By utilizing I – V and various-frequency C – V measurements, the exact location of defects generated by the self-heating effects can be clarified. The degradation mechanism is found to originate from asymmetric negative-bias temperature instability. After clarifying this mechanism, the self-heating effects were shown to be alleviated by manipulating the fabrication of the buffer layer, thereby improving heat dissipation capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]