Indium tin oxide (ITO) can be identify as mostly used material for transparent conductive electrodes. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) is also a good candidate for optoelectronics due to their reliable performance. Currently, various techniques such as DC sputtering, pulsed laser deposition (PLD), atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are used to deposit ITO thin films. However, all these techniques need complex instrumentation and a high vacuum environment which in turn increase the production cost. The inability to customize is also a disadvantage of above mentioned techniques. Inkjet printing of ITO and AZO films is a cost effective deposition method to replace all the high vacuum deposition methods. The inkjet printing procedure developed by AddiLat Inc. reduces the production cost of a single ITO electrode by considerable amount, compared to the current standard procedure. Ability to customize, is an additional advantage of inkjet printing. This work will open the path to use of inkjet printed low cost ITO and AZO thin films for various applications such as touch screens, smart windows, transparent heaters and other optoelectronic devices. The printed ITO and AZO films were annealed in air and forming gas in order to improve the conductivity. Then, laser annealing was performed and the sheet resistance was reduced 2 times for ITO thin films and 5 times for AZO thin films.

Laser crystallization of inkjet-printed aluminum doped zinc oxide and indium tin oxide nanomaterials for highly transparent conductive electrodes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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