Thick Ag Research Articles

Analyses of the light extraction efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes with ITO/mesh-Ag/ITO anode and its optical transmittance as transparent electrode

We have used the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation method to analyze the out-coupling efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with an ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO anode. The period and grid space of the meshed Ag structure effectively affected the extraction ratio (ER) of the bottom-emitting OLED. The 3D simulation results for a simple structure of OLED with an ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO anode showed the ER of about 26.4% and it enhanced 2.26 times that of the continuous Ag layer of about 11.7%. In addition, in respect to the transparent electrode of the OLED using the ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO multiple layers, the Ag thickness and open ratio were important factors that affected the transmittance and the electrical conductance. The open ratio of 60% resulted in sheet resistance of less than 25 Ω/□, while keeping the transmittance nearly similar to that in the case of a single ITO layer.

Three-dimensional Modeling for the Transmittance of ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO Multilayers using FDTD

In order to improve the transmittance of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayers, Ag layer was formed with mesh structure. For more accurate and practical analysis, we performed the simulations using an optical wave simulator termed the full-wave simulation program. In our simulations, the three dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method was used to realize the high density mesh structure, and a plane wave with variable wavelengths ranging from 250 to 850 nm is incident in the z-direction at normal incidence to the ITO/Mesh- Ag/ITO film surrounded by free-air space. From the simulation results, at a higher open ratio and lower Ag thickness, the transmittance of ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO were not influenced by other parameters. Experimental measurements were performed depending on the various Ag mesh-spaces and mesh-widths. The open ratio of about 60 % has shown the acceptable results in the points of both the optical transmittance and the electrical conductance.

Traceable quantitative analysis of Ag x Cu1−x alloy films by ID ICP-MS, RBS and MEIS

The measurement traceability of Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), medium energy ion scattering spectroscopy (MEIS) and isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID ICP-MS) was compared for the quantitative analysis of alloy thin films. A set of thin Ag x Cu1−x alloy films were selected as a model alloy system for the quantitative analysis of MEIS and ID ICP-MS. Two sets of five Ag x Cu1−x alloy films with different mole fractions were grown on Si (100) wafers by ion beam sputter deposition. The mole fractions of thick Ag x Cu1−x alloy films (100 nm) measured by RBS and ID ICP-MS showed a great agreement within 0.4% difference. The mole fractions of thin Ag x Cu1−x alloy films (10 nm) measured with MEIS and ID ICP-MS also showed a small difference of about 1.0%. As a result, ID ICP-MS, RBS and MEIS can be used to certify the mole fractions of thin alloy reference films. ID ICP-MS is an absolute method for the mole fraction analysis of thin Ag x Cu1−x alloy films. Although the contribution of sample homogeneity was included, the uncertainties of ID ICP-MS results were much smaller than those of RBS and MEIS.

Electrochemical Reduction of Organohalides: Insights from First Principles Calculations

Two-electron reduction of organohalides is sensitive to different electrode surfaces. While the role of electrode surface is not always clear, designing bimetallic heterogenous catalysis to further accelerate these reactions becomes more challenging. In this work, we have proposed a formalism to account for the role of electrode surface in the reduction potentials of such organic species. We have utilized first-principles calculations to study the reduction of halothane, bromobenzene, and benzyl bromide, on silver electrode surface, both in freestanding form, and as deposited on Au, Bi, and Pt support electrodes. We have identified and isolated the main factors governing the electrode-molecule interactions. These factors can be categorized as: (i) molecular geometry, (ii) lattice mismatch between the working and support electrodes, (iii) work function difference between the working and support electrodes, and (iv) solvation effects. Although the adoption energy in gas phase is lower than that in the solution, the solvation effects systematically decrease the surface propensity to adsorbed organic halides. Therefore, the rest of the calculations were carried out without solvents to reduce computational cost. While halothane was found to be more sensitive to the lattice mismatch, bromobenzene and benzyl bromide showed little response to this factor due to their different molecular geometry. All the support electrode originally showed less activity than Ag (agreeing with the experiments) due to either too high or too low adsorption energies than Ag. The adoption energy on the bimetallic surface approaches that on the Ag when the deposited Ag thickness is up to 3 atomic layers. Especially, when 2 layers of Ag is deposited on Bi (a support electrode with lower work functions), the bi-metallic surface exhibited increased catalytic activity. Using these factors, we have postulated bimetallic heterogenous catalyst design rules for similar organic halide reduction reactions.

In Situ Formed Li-Ag Alloy Interface Enables Li10GeP2S12-Based All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries.

All-solid-state lithium-metal batteries (ASSLMBs) have received great interest due to their high potential to display both high energy density and safety performance. However, the poor compatibility at the Li/solid electrolyte (SE) interface and penetration of lithium dendrites during cycling strongly impede their successful commercialization. Herein, a thin Ag layer was introduced between Li and Li10GeP2S12 for the in situ formation of a Li-Ag alloy interface, thus tuning the interfacial chemistry and lithium deposition/dissolution behavior. Superior electrochemical properties and improved interfacial stability were achieved by optimizing the Ag thicknesses. The assembled symmetric cell with Li@Ag 1 μm showed a steady voltage evolution up to 1000 h with an areal capacity of 1 mAh cm-2. Moreover, a high reversible capacity of 106.5 mAh g-1 was achieved in an all-solid-state cell after 100 cycles, demonstrating the validity of the Ag layer. This work highlights the importance of the Li/SE interface re-engineering and provides a new strategy for improving the cycle life of ASSLMBs.

Silver nanoparticle array on weakly interacting epitaxial graphene substrate as catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction under neutral conditions

The paucity of research on hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under neutral conditions, which is a more sustainable way to produce H2 compared to acidic and alkaline HER, encourages the development of efficient catalytic materials and devices and deeper investigation of the mechanisms behind neutral HER. We present an electrode concept for facilitating HER under neutral conditions. The concept entails the use of annealing-reshaped silver (Ag) nanoparticle array on monolayer epitaxial graphene (MEG) on 4H-SiC. Measurements of HER performance show more positive onset potential of the cathodic HER for Ag-decorated MEG compared to that for pristine MEG, indicating improved water dissociation at Ag/MEG electrodes. Complementary morphological characterization, absorption measurements, and Raman mapping analysis enable us to ascribe the enhanced catalytic performance of electrodes decorated with 2 nm thick annealed Ag on the synergetic effect originating from simultaneous water reduction on circular Ag nanoparticles of 31 nm in diameter and on compressively strained Ag-free graphene regions. The overall results pave the way toward development of stable van der Waals heterostructure electrodes with a tunable metal–carbon interaction for fast HER under neutral conditions.

Use of single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for understanding the formation of bimetallic nanoparticles

Bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs), including core-shell structure and bimetallic alloy nanoparticles, were synthesized and characterized using flow field-flow fractionation (FlFFF), single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). For the core-shell particles, a nominal 80 nm commercial core-shell AuAg bimetallic nanoparticle was used to examine the applicability of SP-ICP-MS to determine the core size of Au and shell thickness of Ag. Then, the method was applied to estimate the core size of Au and shell thickness of Ag for the laboratory synthesized particles. The results were compared with those obtained from TEM-EDS. For the alloy nanoparticles, two synthesis protocols, based on the galvanic replacement of Ag seed particles with Au, were used. One was to prepare a hollow AgAu particle by varying the volume of dissolved Au in basic solution (K-gold) to etch some parts of AgNPs to dissolved ionic silver with the formation of AuNPs covering the remaining AgNPs, producing a hole inside the core nanoparticles. Another protocol was to prepare AgAu alloy nanoparticles. SP-ICP-MS was used in combination with FlFFF to provide information on the changes of particle size with varying volume of K-gold reagent. Hydrodynamic diameter increased with increasing K-gold, as observed by FlFFF. With SP-ICP-MS without prior FlFFF, bimodal distributions were observed in the size distribution of Au and Ag. With prior FlFFF, monomodal distributions were observed by SP-ICP-MS, which allow the use of particle concentration and size to estimate the mass concentration of elements on the fractionated bimetallic nanoparticles. This study illustrates the potential use of SP-ICP-MS for gaining information about particle transformation during the synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles.

Effects of Insertion of Ag Mid-Layers on Laser Direct Ablation of Transparent Conductive ITO/Ag/ITO Multilayers: Role of Effective Absorption and Focusing of Photothermal Energy.

From the viewpoint of the device performance, the fabrication and patterning of oxide–metal–oxide (OMO) multilayers (MLs) as transparent conductive oxide electrodes with a high figure of merit have been extensively investigated for diverse optoelectronic and energy device applications, although the issues of their general concerns about possible shortcomings, such as a more complicated fabrication process with increasing cost, still remain. However, the underlying mechanism by which a thin metal mid-layer affects the overall performance of prepatterned OMO ML electrodes has not been fully elucidated. In this study, indium tin oxide (ITO)/silver (Ag)/ITO MLs are fabricated using an in-line sputtering method for different Ag thicknesses on glass substrates. Subsequently, a Q-switched diode-pumped neodymium-doped yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO4, λ = 1064 nm) laser is employed for the direct ablation of the ITO/Ag/ITO ML films to pattern ITO/Ag/ITO ML electrodes. Analysis of the laser-patterned results indicate that the ITO/Ag/ITO ML films exhibit wider ablation widths and lower ablation thresholds than ITO single layer (SL) films. However, the dependence of Ag thickness on the laser patterning results of the ITO/Ag/ITO MLs is not observed, despite the difference in their absorption coefficients. The results show that the laser direct patterning of ITO/Ag/ITO MLs is primarily affected by rapid thermal heating, melting, and vaporization of the inserted Ag mid-layer, which has considerably higher thermal conductivity and absorption coefficients than the ITO layers. Simulation reveals the importance of the Ag mid-layer in the effective absorption and focusing of photothermal energy, thereby supporting the experimental observations. The laser-patterned ITO/Ag/ITO ML electrodes indicate a comparable optical transmittance, a higher electrical current density, and a lower resistance compared with the ITO SL electrode.

Influence of Ag interlayer Thickness on the Optical, Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Ti-doped In2O3/Ag/Ti-doped In2O3 Multilayer Flexible Transparent Conductive Electrode

Transparent and conductive Ti-doped In2O3 (TIO)/Ag/Ti-doped In2O3 (TAT) multilayer films were deposited on colorless poly imide (CPI) substrates by direct current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at room temperature. During deposition the thickness of both the top and bottom TIO layer was fixed at 30 nm, while the thickness of the Ag interlayer was varied, to 5, 10, and 15 nm, to enhance the optical, electrical and mechanical properties of the films. In the XRD analysis the TIO films did not show any characteristic peaks in the diffraction pattern. The 10 nm thick Ag inter layer showed some characteristic peaks of Ag (111), (200), (220) and (311), respectively, and the grain size of the Ag interlayer enlarged as Ag thickness increased. To investigate the most efficient Ag interlayer thickness, a figure of merit (FOM) based on the opto-electrical performance of the transparent conducting films was compared. The films with a 10 nm thick Ag interlayer exhibited a higher FOM of 1.71 × 10-2 Ω-1 than the other films. When the radius of the film's curvature was reduced to 1.7 mm, the TIO single layer films showed a 13 times increase in sheet resistance, while the TAT (30/10/30 nm) films showed an insignificant change in sheet resistance. From the observed results, it was concluded that the Ag interlayer in the TAT multilayer films enhanced the opto-electrical performance of the films and also acted as a potent bridge which assured the high flexibility endurance of the films.

Optically Clear Films of Formamidinium Lead Bromide Perovskite for Wide-Band-Gap, Solution-Processed, Semitransparent Solar Cells.

Solvent engineering and antisolvent methods have been used extensively to achieve high-quality, homogeneous, and crystalline perovskite thin films. Usually, highly concentrated (>1.1 M) precursor solutions are used to achieve the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE), and most fabrication studies focus on iodide-based metal halide perovskites (MHPs). However, high concentrations of precursors are not suitable for semitransparent (ST) MHP solar cells (STPSCs), which require thinner films to achieve a high average visible transmittance (AVT). The deposition of high-quality perovskites with variable concentrations in a one-step method is challenging due to the complexity of the antisolvent crystallization process. Here, we have developed an in situ technique based on photoluminescence (PL) measurements to identify the optimum delay time for antisolvent crystallization in formamidinium lead bromide (FAPbBr3). By monitoring the in situ PL, the nucleation, crystal growth, and early perovskite formation phases are easily identified for a range of concentrations. Subsequently, we fabricated opaque and ST solar cells with optically clear, ST perovskite films formed from precursors with varying concentrations. These all-solution-processed STPSCs achieved AVTs of up to 35.6, 42.5, and 49.2%, with the corresponding PCEs of 5.71, 3.25, and 1.86% in p-i-n type, FAPbBr3 perovskite solar cells with transparent Ag nanowire electrodes. These devices show good stability over several weeks and an impressive Voc as high as 1.24 V for STPSCs and 1.38 V for opaque cells produced with a thick Ag electrode. This work demonstrates the potential use of in situ spectroscopy to tailor the film growth of halide perovskites with varying concentrations and the feasibility of using wide-band-gap perovskites for ST solar cells with exceptional clarity and higher Voc.

Monoclinic AgSbS2 thin films for photovoltaic applications: Computation, growth and characterization approaches

Monoclinic silver antimony sulfide (AgSbS2) thin films have been studied based on computational, deposition, characterization, and photovoltaic device fabrication approaches. Computational tactics involved determination of the crystal structure as well as electronic band structure. In experimental approach, AgSbS2 thin films were synthesized by heating Sb2S3/Ag double layered precursor in which Ag was thermally evaporated on to chemically deposited Sb2S3 films. AgSbS2 thin film growth was studied by varying Ag layer thickness in the range of 10–110 nm for a given thickness of Sb2S3, in terms of crystal structure, morphology, elemental composition, and their photo-physical properties. X-ray diffraction analysis of the films showed formation of monoclinic AgSbS2 in correlation with the theoretically generated structure. The density functional calculations predicted an indirect optical transition with a bandgap of 1.77 eV, and this was evidenced in our experimental values in the range of 1.7–1.8 eV. The AgSbS2 thin films formed using different Ag thicknesses were incorporated to photovoltaic structures with superstrate configuration: glass/FTO/n-CdS/p-AgSbS2/C/Ag. The best device yield was Voc = 530 mV, Jsc = 5.5 mA/cm2, FF = 0.50 and ƞ = 1.5%, the highest efficiency ever reported using monoclinic AbSbS2 as absorber.

Control of localized surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles by changing its size and morphology

Ag thin-films with thicknesses of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 nm are deposited by thermal vacuum evaporation, and the obtained films are subsequently annealed at 400 °C for 1 h to form the Ag nanoparticles (NPs). The averaged diameters of the resultant Ag NPs are increased from 50 to 300 nm as increasing the initial Ag deposition thickness, according to the morphological observation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The significant red-shift of the extinction peak depending on the particle size of the Ag NPs, which can be assigned to the localized surface plasmon resonance of the Ag NPs. The organic emitter, tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3) film is overcoated on the Ag NPs. About 4-fold enhancement of the photoluminescence of Alq3 was observed in combination with the larger size Ag NPs fabricated from the 15–25 nm thick Ag films, which can be applied for the improvement of the light-extraction efficiency of the organic light-emitting devices.

Thermal treatment for enhancing performance of NiO/Ag/NiO transparent conducting electrode fabricated via magnetron radio-frequency sputtering

A NiO/Ag/NiO (NAN) transparent conducting electrode (TCE) is fabricated using a low-cost magnetron-sputtering system. The effects of various thicknesses of the Ag intermediate layer and different annealing temperatures on the optical and electrical properties of the prepared TCEs are investigated comprehensively. A NAN TCE with a thin (8 nm) Ag layer demonstrates a slightly lower average transmittance than that with a 10 nm Ag layer because the thinner Ag layer appears as an isolated island structure, resulting in higher optical absorption. As the Ag thickness increases to 10 nm, the isolated islands become connected to each other and form a continuous thin film. As the Ag thickness increases, the carrier concentration and mobility increase and the formation of a continuous dense film, which decrease the resistivity and sheet resistance of the NAN TCE. The NAN TCE with a 14-nm intermediate Ag layer exhibits a sheet resistance of 3.67 Ω/sq, which is much lower than that (34 Ω/sq) of a single ITO electrode. The NAN TCE with a 10-nm Ag exhibits the highest figure-of-merit (FOM) than others. The annealing significantly increases the FOM from 2.5 × 10–4 to 1.2 × 10–2 Ω−1, respectively, for the as-deposited NAN TCE with a 10-nm Ag layer and the NAN TCE annealed at 400 °C. However, the performance of NAN TCE degrades at higher annealing temperature (500 °C).

A Method of Chemical-Mechanical Polishing of a Thick Silver Layer on Patterned Silicon Wafer

Microfluidics-based biochips for biochemical analysis are receiving much attention nowadays. These composite microsystems, also known as lab-on-a-chip or bio-MEMS, offer a number of advantages over conventional laboratory procedures. They automate highly repetitive laboratory tasks by replacing cumbersome equipment with miniaturized and integrated systems, and they enable the handling of small amounts, e.g., micro- and nano-liters, of fluids. Thus they are able to provide ultra-sensitive detection at significantly lower costs per assay than traditional methods, and in a significantly smaller amount of laboratory space. Advances in microfluidics technology offer exciting possibilities in the realm of enzymatic analysis (e.g., glucose and lactate assays), DNA analysis (e.g., PCR and nucleic acid sequence analysis), proteomic analysis involving proteins and peptides, immuno-assays, and toxicity monitoring.Biochips can be used to detect molecules and/or sequence nucleic acid molecules with aid of an array of electrochemical detector cells containing one or more electrodes per cell where each cell being electrically isolated at a wafer level. For many applications it is beneficial to form a non-planar working electrode using a metal which will corrode during CMP steps.We’ve developed a novel Ag and Cu integration process which a) solves problems of metal corrosion over 3D topography during CMP step and b) prevents metal surface contamination with CMP residual slurry and polishing byproducts not usually removable by brush or megasonic cleaning.Electrochemical studies show corrosion behavior of thick Ag layers in different CMP slurries used in this process. SEM images of cross-sectioned metal lined electrochemical cells (vias) clearly demonstrate advantages of new process (right) without traces of corrosion vs conventional CMP process (left).This process can be used also for polishing of other metals and dielectrics over topography where aggressive cleaning post-CMP steps are not desirable. Figure 1

Theoretical study on amplifying strong exciton–photon coupling based on surface plasmon in a hybridized perovskite nanowire-metal film-perovskite nanowire structure

We theoretically report a strong light–matter interaction in a sandwich structure composed of hybridized inorganic–organic perovskite nanowires, silica (SiO2) films and a silver (Ag) film. Surface plasmon effectively enhances the strong exciton–photon coupling strength of perovskite nanowires, which depends on reduction of effective mode volume and local field enhancement. By calculation, we find that the thicknesses of SiO2 and Ag films can affect the coupling strength. With the suitable thickness of SiO2 (5 nm) and Ag (30 nm) films, Rabi splitting can reach 319 meV, while without an Ag film Rabi splitting is only 270 meV. Furthermore, Rabi splitting shows a negative correlation with SiO2 film thickness within a limited range. Still, it has a nonlinear relation with Ag film thickness because the imaginary part of the effective index for the hybridized mode shows a nonlinear relation with Ag film thickness. Our structure provides suitable parameters for the experiment and has potential application in nano-lasers.

Effect of Ag source layer thickness on the switching mechanism of TiN/Ag/SiN x /TiN conductive bridging random access memory observed at sub-µA current

Experiments are conducted to compare the resistive switching characteristics for several samples with different amounts of Ag deposition in TiN/Ag/SiN x /TiN conductive bridging random access memory (CBRAM). The compliance current in TiN/Ag/SiN x /TiN CBRAM determines the volatile/non-volatile memory operation as the current level controls the strength of the filament made of Ag. The transient measurement showed that the effective thickness of Ag source layer in the TiN/Ag/SiN x /TiN controls the supply of the Ag atoms into the insulating layer, affecting the strength of the conductive bridge. The mechanism for the switching characteristics and the volatility trend with the amount of Ag deposition is closely investigated using transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images. The device shows the conductance potentiation by a voltage pulse train under 1 µA current level, and the higher potentiation rate is observed in the CBRAM with thick Ag source layer.

Laser-induced scanning transfer deposition of silver electrodes on glass surfaces: A green and scalable technology

A pulsed laser ablation backwriting technique with high repetitive rates is implemented for the fabrication of silver coatings on glass surfaces. This method enables geometrical constraint-free deposition of metallic coatings. These exhibit sufficiently low electrical resistance to be used as electrodes in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma elements.Ambient air deposition of metallic silver electrodes on standard glass slides is explored using a sub-ns UV laser source, combined with hybrid beam scanning methods. The green nature of the overall deposition process includes a preliminary irradiation scan to homogenise the target surface before the subsequent backwriting step. Metal transfer is achieved by combining two phenomena within a simple beam scanning process: LIRT (laser-induced reverse transfer) of silver from the target to the glass, with a partial and secondary LIFT (Laser-Induced Forward Transfer) of silver from the glass to the target.Appropriate selection of pulse energy and pulse repetition rates, beam scanning velocities and target motion enable the growth of sufficiently thick Ag deposits on glass with the required low electrical resistivity and nearly 2D constraint-free geometry. This method avoids the use of vacuum and liquids, resulting in a cheap, facile and green methodology for the deposition of silver electrodes onto transparent substrate surfaces.

Engineering the depletion layer of Au-modified ZnO/Ag core-shell films for high-performance acetone gas sensing

Understanding the role of depletion region, charge transport behaviour, and energy band modulations are essential to improve the performance of different sensors including the accurate acetone sensor for the diagnosis of diabetes via the exhaled breath. Herein, we report a new approach to amplify the performance of the acetone gas sensor by engineering the depletion layer. A novel Au decorated ZnO/Ag core-shell films (Au/ZnO/Ag) with different contents of Au, ZnO, and Ag are successfully fabricated via a sequential DC sputtering and post-heat treatment for the detection of acetone in low concentration. The optimum thickness of Ag, ZnO, and Au, to achieve the highest acetone response, are determined to be 11, 13, and 12 nm, respectively. The acetone sensing performance of the Au/ZnO/Ag is four and two times higher than that of ZnO and ZnO/Ag core-shell films. In addition, the Au/ZnO/Ag core-shell sensor exhibits excellent repeatability, high selectivity, and quick response at 150 °C operating temperature. The high performance of the developed sensor is attributed to the formation of a thick depletion layer, and the homogeneous distribution of Au and Ag nanoparticles. The findings demonstrate that the controlled engineering of the depletion layer is an efficacious approach for designing high-performance metal oxide-based gas sensors.

Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Structure as a Conductive and Transparent Layer for Energy and Optoelectronic Applications

In the era of hybrid organic devices, solution-processed metal-embedded polymer multilayer structures are potential candidates for transparent electrode applications. Here, an organic–inorganic–organic (OIO) layered structure has been fabricated as a metal oxide-free transparent conducting electrode, where a thin metal layer (Ag) was sandwiched between two organic polymer (polystyrene) layers. The metal layer was deposited by the DC sputtering technique, and the polymer layers were deposited by an easy and efficient dip coating technique with good thickness control. The thickness of the middle Ag film was varied from 4 to 30 nm to investigate its effect on the transparency and conductivity of the multilayered structure. The morphological behavior shows that a higher thickness of Ag gives a continuous layer formation and a smooth top surface of the layered structure, which is a vital feature of a good electrode. The results of various investigations of the OIO structure show promising optoelectrical performance for its applicability in transparent and flexible optoelectronics. Depth profiling in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the Ag layer retains its metallic form mostly and only a small amount gets oxidized when exposed to the environment. In spite of the formation of silver oxide, an electrical resistivity of 1.1 × 10–4 Ω cm with an optical transparency of ∼75% was obtained in the OIO structure for an 8 nm thickness of the Ag layer. The key findings of the present investigations demonstrate a facile, low-cost, and effective method with a rational design for the fabrication and application of a transparent conducting electrode, which can be an alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO).

Optimization of transparent amorphous oxide-metal-amorphous oxide multilayer with high figure of merit for high transmittance and low resistivity

Highly transparent amorphous oxide-metal-amorphous oxide (OMO) multilayers were fabricated at room temperature using amorphous semiconducting Si–Zn–Sn–O (SZTO) metal oxide and metallic silver. Amorphous SZTO (a-SZTO) showed high refractive index of 2.04 which is comparable to crystalline ITO, and wide optical bandgap (E g ) of 3.26 eV, allowing transmitting of wavelength above 380 nm. SZTO based OMO showed low resistivity at the level of 10 −5 Ω cm by inserting an Ag layer. After optimizing the optical and electrical properties by changing Ag and SZTO sublayer thickness, a transparent conductive electrode with high average transmittance of 96.5% in visible region and low resistivity of 7.158 × 10 −5 Ω cm was fabricated at room temperature. The results show that SZTO is a promising sublayer for high performance transparent conducting oxides applications. • SZTO OMO multilayer is a transparent conductive electrode having high transmittance and low resistivity. • It was calculated that the optical bandgap has a wide bandgap. • The optical and electrical properties were optimized by changing the Ag and SZTO sub-layer thickness.