Research On Flexible Transparent Conductive Thin Films

With the development of miniaturization and portability in electronic devices, transparent conductive (TC) thin films on flexible substrates have stimulated wide interest due to their replacement production of TC thin films on rigid substrates. Zinc oxide (ZnO), a direct wide band gap semiconductor with a very large exciton binding energy (～60 meV), is considered as a promising TC material with various application, because ZnO combines high visible transparency and electrical conductivity with other advantages such as non-toxicity, low cost and material abundance. Based on the status of research on TC thin films on flexible substrates, ZnO TC thin films with multilayer structures and nano-arrayed structures have been prepared by magnetron sputtering and atomic layer deposition (ALD) on flexible substrates. Their electrical properties, optical properties and morphologies have been investigated. The main contents are listed as follows:1. The effects of the indium (In) thickness on optical and electrical properties of the ZnO/In/ZnO multilayer structures were investigated.2. The effects of the copper (Cu) thickness on optical and electrical properties of the Al doped ZnO (AZO)/Cu/AZO multilayer structures, and their bending characteristic were investigated3. AZO TC thin films with array structures were fabricated by ALD and sputtering on the flexible plastic substrates with moth-eye structures on their surface. The effects of deposition methods on the morphology and the transmission properties of AZO thin films were analyzed. 4. AZO TC thin films with array structures were fabricated by sputtering on the flexible plastic substrates with moth-eye structures on their surface. The effect of AZO thickness on the morphologies, optical properties and electrical properties of AZO thin films were investigated.