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TRANSPARENT ELECTRONICS
by
Aakash Kumar VarmaE.C.E. (3rd year)
Roll No.: 0905232001
Submitted to the
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Bachelor of Technologyin
Electronics and communication Engineering
Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow
Gautam Buddh Technical University
(April, 2012)
Student Name: Seminar Guide Name:
Aakash Kumar Varma Er. Deepali Srivastava
Student Signature: Seminar Guide Signature:
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Department of Electronics Engineering
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
SITAPUR ROAD, LUCKNOW
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that seminar report entitled TRANSPARENT
ELECTRONICS being submitted by Mr. Aakash Kumar Varma of
3rd year (Electronics and Communication Engineering), under theguidance ofEr. Deepali Srivastava (Seminar Incharge).
Er. Deepali Srivastava Prof. Neelam Srivastava
(Seminar Incharge) (Head of Department)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me a great sense of pleasure to present the B.Tech. seminar report
undertaken during B. Tech. 3rd
Year. I owe special debt of gratitude to respectedDeepali Srivastava Maamfor her constant support and guidance throughout the
course of my work. Her sincerity, thoroughness and perseverance have been a
constant source of inspiration for me. It is only her cognizant efforts that mine
endeavor have seen light of the day.
I am very grateful to Prof. Neelam Srivastava, Head of the Department, for
giving me a chance to present this seminar.
I also do not like to miss the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution
of all dignitary Staff-members of I.E.T. Lucknow for their kind assistance andcooperation during the development of my Seminar report. Last but not the least, I
acknowledge my friends for their contribution in the completion of the seminarreport.
Apart from the efforts of me, the success of this project depends largely on
the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity toexpress my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful
completion of this report.
Aakash Kumar VarmaB.Tech.
E.C.E.- 3rd year
Roll No. - 0905232001
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction 5
Chapter 2 Pre- History 7
2.1. Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs) 7
2.2. Thin-Film Transistors (TFTs) 7
Chapter 3 How transparent electronics devices work? 9
3.1 Oxides play key role 11
Chapter 4 Advancements made in Transparent Electronics 13
Chapter 5 Applications of Transparent Electronics 18
5.1 Imaginative Examples of use of Transparent Electronics 19
Chapter 6 Market of Transparent Electronics 20
6.1 Three Factors That Can Lead to the Commercial 22
Awakening of Transparent Electronics
6.1.1 Aesthetics 22
6.1.2 Integration 22
6.1.3 Improved Economics 23
6.1.4 Non-transparent aspects of transparent materials 23
Chapter 7 Future Scope 24
Chapter 8 Conclusion 25
Chapter 9 References 26
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LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND GRAPHS
Fig 1.1 Transparent Computer (Artists Imagination) 5
Fig 1.2 Transparent iPhone 6
Table 2.1 Electrical properties of common transparent conducting 7
oxides (TCOs).
Fig 2.1 Fabrication of a bottom-gate TFT with a SnO2 channel layer. 8
Fig 2.2 Structure of layered TFT 8
Fig 3.1 Typical ZnO-TFT characteristics 10
Fig 3.2 Development of ZnO and a-IGZO Semiconductors 11
Fig 3.3 Graph showing variation of transmittance and wavelength of 12
Substrate.
Fig 4.1 Characteristics other than Transparency. 14
Fig 4.2 Fabrication of fully transparent aligned SWNT transistors. 15
Fig 4.3 Generation of Transparent Electronics 16
Fig 5.1 Examples of Transparent Electronics Devices (Illustrative) 19
Fig 6.1 Forecast of Transparent Electronics Products by Application 20
Fig 7.1Graphene is transparent and can be used as material. 24
Fig 8.1 Usage of Transparent Electronics devices in future 25
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Chapter-1
INTRODUCTION
Transparent electronics (also called as invisible electronics) is an emergingtechnology that employs wide band-gap semiconductors for the realization of
invisible circuits. This monograph provides the first roadmap for transparentelectronics, identifying where the field is, where it is going, and what needs to
happen to move it forward. Although the central focus of this monograph involvestransparent electronics, many of the materials, devices, circuits, and process-
integration strategies discussed herein will be of great interest to researchersworking in other emerging fields of optoelectronics and electronics involving
printing, large areas, low cost, flexibility, wearability, and fashion and design.
Fig 1.1 Transparent Computer (Artists Imagination)
Transparent electronics is an emerging science and technology field focused
on producing invisible electronic circuitry and opto-electronic devices.Applications include consumer electronics, new energy sources, and
transportation; for example, automobile windshields could transmit visualinformation to the driver. Glass in almost any setting could also double as an
electronic device, possibly improving security systems or offering transparentdisplays. In a similar vein, windows could be used to produce electrical power.
Other civilian and military applications in this research field include real time
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wearable displays. As for conventional Si/IIIV-based electronics, the basic device
structure is based on semiconductor junctions and transistors. However, the devicebuilding block materials, the semiconductor, the electric contacts, and the
dielectric/passivation layers, must now be transparent in the visible a true
challenge! Therefore, the first scientific goal of this technology must be todiscover, understand, and implement transparent high-performance electronic
materials. The second goal is their implementation and evaluation in transistor andcircuit structures. The third goal relates to achieving application-specific properties
since transistor performance and materials property requirements vary, dependingon the final product device specifications. Consequently, to enable this
revolutionary technology requires bringing together expertise from various pure
and applied sciences, including materials science, chemistry, physics,electrical/electronic/circuit engineering, and display science.
During the past 10 years, the classes ofmaterials available for transparent electronics
applications have grown dramatically. Historically,this area was dominated by transparent conducting
oxides (oxide materials that are both electricallyconductive and optically transparent) because of
their wide use in antistatic coatings, touch displaypanels, solar cells, flat panel displays, heaters,
defrosters, smart windows and optical coatings.
Fig 1.2 Transparent iPhoneAll these applications use transparent conductive oxides as passive
electrical or optical coatings. Oxide semiconductors are very interesting materialsbecause they combine simultaneously high/low conductivity with high visual
transparency. The field of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) materials has beenreviewed and many treatises on the topic are available. However, more recently
there have been tremendous efforts to develop new active materials for functionaltransparent electronics. These new technologies will require new materials sets, in
addition to the TCO component, including conducting, dielectric andsemiconducting materials, as well as passive components for full device
fabrication.
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Chapter-2
PRE- HISTORYThe two technologies which preceded and underlie transparent electronics
are Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs) and Thin- Film Transistors (TFTs).
2.1 Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCOs)
TCOs constitute an unusual class of materials possessing two physical
properties- high optical transparency and high electrical conductivity. They are
generally considered to be mutually exclusive (Hartnagel et al 1995). This peculiar
combination of physical properties is only achievable if a material has a
sufficiently large energy band gap so that it is non-absorbing or transparent or
transparent to visible light, i.e., > ~3.1 eV and also possesses a high enough
concentration > ~1019 cm-3, with a sufficiently large mobility > ~1 cm2V-1s-1, that the
material can be considered to be a good conductor of electricity.
The three most common TCOs are indium oxide In2O3, tin oxide SnO2 and
zinc oxide ZnO2. All these materials have band gaps above that required for
transparency across the full visible spectrum.
Table 2.1 Electrical properties of common transparentconducting oxides (TCOs). Conductivities reported are for best-
case polycrystalline films
Materi
al
Bandga
p
(eV)
Conductivity
(Scm-1
)
Electron
Concentratio
n (cm-3
)
Mobility
(cm2V-1s-1)
In2O3 3.75 10,000 >1021 35
ZnO2 3.35 8,000 >1021 20
SnO2 3.6 5,000 >1020 15
2.2 Thin-Film Transistors (TFTs)
The thin-film transistor is another technology underlying transparent
electronics, since it is a bridge between passive electrical and active electronic
applications. Although TFTs were the subject of the earliest transistor patents, the
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first realization of a TFT was reported in 1961 by Weimer and fabricated via
vacuum evaporation using CdS as a channel layer. None of these undertakings
involved an attempt to realize a fully transparent TFT.
Fig 2.1 Fabrication of a bottom-gate TFT with a SnO2 channel layer.
(a) Photo-resist is patterned by bottom exposure, using the aluminum
gate as a mask. (b) After photo resist development, a metal blanket
coating is evaporated. (c) Final TFT device structure after lift-off.
Fig 2.2 Structure of layered TFT
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Chapter-3
HOW TRANSPARENT ELECTRONIC
DEVICES WORK?The challenge for producing "invisible" electronic circuitry and opto-
electronic devices is that the transistor materials must be transparent to visible light
yet have good carrier mobilities. This requires a special class of materials having
"contra-indicated properties" because from the band structure point of view, the
combination of transparency and conductivity is contradictory.
Transparent electronics are nowadays an emerging technology for the next
generation of optoelectronic devices. Oxide semiconductors are very interestingmaterials because they combine simultaneously high/low conductivity with high
visual transparency and have been widely used in a variety of applications (e.g.
antistatic coatings, touch display panels, solar cells, flat panel displays, heaters,
defrosters, optical coatings, among others) for more than a half-century.
Transparent oxide semiconductor based transistors have recently been
proposed using as active channel intrinsic zinc oxide (ZnO). The main advantage
of using ZnO deals with the fact that it is possible to growth at/near room
temperature high quality polycrystalline ZnO, which is a particular advantage for
electronic drivers, where the response speed is of major importance. Besides that,
since ZnO is a wide band gap material (3.4 eV), it is transparent in the visible
region of the spectra and therefore, also less light sensitive.
Transparent oxide semiconductor based transistors have recently been
proposed using as active channel intrinsic zinc oxide (ZnO). The main advantage
of using ZnO deals with the fact that it is possible to growth at/near room
temperature high quality polycrystalline ZnO, which is a particular advantage forelectronic drivers, where the response speed is of major importance. Besides that,
since ZnO is a wide band gap material (3.4 eV), it is transparent in the visible
region of the spectra and therefore, also less light sensitive.
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(a)
(b)
Fig 3.1 Typical ZnO-TFT characteristics (a) transfer and (b) output
characteristics, with the channel layer deposited at room temperature by rf
magnetron sputtering produced at FCT-UNL.
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3.1 Oxides Play Key Role:
One major reason why there has been such interest and activity in
transparent electronics recently is that there has been a sharp jump in the carrier
mobility of transparent semiconductors, which determines transparent TFTcharacteristics. This now exceeds the carrier mobility of materials such as low-
temperature poly-Si (LTPS) and amorphous Si used in LCD panels.
Fig 3.2 Development of ZnO and a-IGZO Semiconductors Takes Off
Researchers have been interested in ZnO and InGaZnO4 (a-IGZO)transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors in the last few years. Carrier
mobility of ZnO transistors was 7cm2/Vs in 2003, rising to 70 cm2/Vs in 2006,
and to 250 cm2/Vs in 2007. Several manufacturers have plans to use a-IGZO
in products. While there are remaining problems, transparent oxide p-type
semiconductors have also been in development.
Even better, it means lower cost. Transparent semiconductors such as GaN
and diamond are already known, but they come at high cost (materials,
manufacturing, etc) which makes them impossible to use in transparent electronic
devices demanding relatively large screens, such as displays. The candidate
materials attracting the most interest can be broadly divided into two oxide
categories. The first group is zinc oxide (ZnO), and the second is amorphous
oxides with heavy metal content, such as amorphous InGaZnO4 (a-IGZO). Both
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pass visible light and are almost completely transparent. The carrier mobility of a
TFT made with ZnO is 250cm2/Vs, significantly higher than the 100cm2/Vs
achieved by LTPS. A TFT made with a-IGZO ranges from 1cm2/Vs to
100cm2/Vs, again significantly higher than the 1cm2/Vs max that amorphous Si
provides. The pace of R&D has been accelerating in the last few years, withgrowth in ZnO carrier mobility especially rapid and manufacturers actively
developing applications based on a-IGZO. Announcements like that of LG
Electronics at E-MRS 2007 are based on a-IGZO.
A comparison of ZnO and a-IGZO shows that ZnO has the lead when it
comes to carrier mobility. At present, though, a-IGZO is the material of choice for
large-area displays, electronic paper utilizing low-temperature processing, etc.
There are even some organic transparent semiconductor materials, but even the
best only achieve a carrier mobility of around 5cm2/Vs. Organic semiconductors
are therefore limited to applications with larger area where the lower cost can be
leveraged.
Fig 3.3 Graph showing variation of transmittance (denoting
reflection) and wavelength of Substrate.
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Chapter-4
ADVANCEMENTS MADE IN
TRANSPARENT ELECTRONICS
Significant advances in the emerging science of transparent electronics,
creating transparent "p-type" semiconductors that have more than 200 times the
conductivity of the best materials available for that purpose a few years ago. This
basic research is opening the door to new types of electronic circuits that, when
deposited onto glass, are literally invisible. The studies are so cutting edge that the
products which could emerge from them haven't yet been invented, although they
may find applications in everything from flat-panel displays to automobiles or
invisible circuits on visors.
Most materials used to conduct electricity are opaque, but some invisible
conductors of electricity are already in fairly common use, the scientists said. More
complex types of transparent electronic devices, however, are a far different
challenge - they require the conduction of electricity via both electrons and
"holes," which are positively charged entities that can be thought of as missing
electrons.
These "p-type" materials will be necessary for the diodes and transistors that
are essential to more complex electronic devices. Only a few laboratories in the
world are working in this area, mostly in Japan, the OSU scientists. As recently as
1997, the best transparent p-type transparent conductive materials could only
conduct one Siemens/cm, which is a measure of electrical conductivity. The most
sophisticated materials recently developed at OSU now conduct 220 Siemens/cm.
These are all copper oxide-based compounds that we're working with. Rightnow copper chromium oxide is the most successful. Researchers continue to work
with these materials to achieve higher transparency and even greater conductivity.
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Fig 4.1 Characteristics other than Transparency. Transparent
semiconductors, inaddition to being transparent, have a number of useful
characteristics, including a wide band gap, relatively high carrier mobility,
low-temperature manufacturability, and low manufacturing costs thanks to
the low-temperature process and inexpensive materials. As a result, R&D intoproperties other than transparency is also active.
Researchers at Oregon State University and Hewlett Packard have
reported their first example of an entirely new class of materials which could be
used to make transparent transistors that are inexpensive, stable, and
environmentally benign. This could lead to new industries and a broad range of
new consumer products, scientists say. The possibilities include electronic
devices produced so cheaply they could almost be one-time "throw away"
products, better large-area electronics such as flat panel screens or flexibleelectronics that could be folded up for ease of transport. Findings about this new
class of "thin-film" materials, which are called amorphous heavy-metal cation
multi component oxides, were just published in a professional journal, Applied
Physics Letters. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and
Army Research Office.
This is a significant breakthrough in the emerging field of transparent
electronics, experts say. The new transistors are not only transparent, but they work
extremely well and could have other advantages that will help them transcend
carbon-based transistor materials, such as organics and polymers, that have been
the focus of hundreds of millions of dollars of research around the world.
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Fig 4.2 Fabrication of fully transparent aligned SWNT transistors. (a)
Schematic diagram of aligned SWNT transfer and a device structure
consisting of a substrate (glass or PET), ITO as back gate, SU8 as dielectric,
aligned SWNTs as channel, and ITO as source and drain. (b) SEM image oftransferred aligned SWNTs on SU8 on a glass substrate. (c) SEM image of
devices showing the ITO source and drain electrodes fabricated on glass.
Inset: SEM image of aligned nanotubes bridging ITO electrodes. (d) Optical
micrograph of fully transparent aligned SWNT transistors on a 4 in. glass
wafer. (e) Optical micrograph of fully transparent aligned SWNT transistors
on a PET sheet of 3 in. - 4 in.
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"Compared to organic or polymer transistor materials, these new inorganic
oxides have higher mobility, better chemical stability, ease of manufacture, and are
physically more robust," said John Wager, a professor of electrical and computer
engineering at OSU. "Oxide-based transistors in many respects are already further
along than organics or polymers are after many years of research, and this mayblow some of them right out of the water."
"Frankly, until now no one ever believed we could get this type of electronic
performance out of transparent oxide transistors processed at low temperatures,"
Wager said. "They may be so effective that there will be many uses which don't
even require transparency, they are just a better type of transistor, cheap and easy
to produce."
Fig 4.3 Generation of Transparent Electronics
The newest devices are zinc-tin-oxide thin film transistors, according tocollaborating researchers in the OSU College of Engineering, OSU College of
Science and at Hewlett Packard. They are an evolution of zinc oxide transistors,
which gained attention as the world's first see-through transistor when OSU
scientists announced their discovery last year. But this new material combines the
characteristics of different elements to give levels of electronic performance and
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"mobility" in electronics, an observation about how fast electrons can move
within a materialthat are an order of magnitude faster than the earlier transparent
transistors, Wager said.
They are amorphous, meaning they have no long range crystalline order,which helps to keep processing costs a great deal lower. They are also physically
robusthard to scratch, chemically stable, resist etching, and have a very smooth
surface. They are made from low cost, readily-available elements such as zinc and
tin, which raise no environmental concerns.
From material and design advancements to new innovative processing
methods, there have been significant recent achievements in the area of transparent
electronics. Materials & Performance advancements in transparent wide band gap
electronic materials are described in the articles reporting on metal oxide, GaN,and rare earth systems. Material enhancements focusing on lowering resistivity and
increasing mobility are described. Attention is given to both experimental and
modeling and simulation efforts. These papers discuss measured material
properties, modeling results, and performance of structures up to the complexity of
TFTs. Along with material progress; advancements in Fabrication Techniques are
required to enable new device designs and new applications. The full benefits of
transparent electronics are seen in the final device design and performance.
Transparent electronics enable advancements in device technologies and open theopportunity for new applications. Application articles focused on the benefits of
transparent electronics include display and organic light-emitting diode devices.
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Chapter-5
APPLICATIONS OF
TRANSPARENT ELECTRONICSAs the oxide semiconductors are wide band gap materials, transparent TFTs can be
easily realized by the combination of transparent electrodes and insulators.
Transparency is one of the most significant features of TAOS TFTs. As the band
gap of a-Si is 1.7 eV and that of crystalline-Si is 1.1 eV, transparent electronics
cannot be realized in Si technology. In TAOS TFTs, features of high mobility or
low process temperature have attracted a lot of attention. However, transparency
has been underestimated or even neglected in the research and development of
TAOSs. Few examples of actual applications have been reported exploiting the
transparency of TAOSs until now [25, 26]. Transparent circuits will have
unprecedented applications in flat panel displays and other electronic devices, such
as see through display or novel display structures. Here, practical examples taking
advantage of the transparency of TAOS TFTs are: Reversible Display, Front
Drive Structure for Color Electronic Paper, Color Microencapsulated
Electrophoretic Display, and Novel Display Structure Front Drive Structure.
Indium oxide nanowire mesh as well as indium oxide thin films were used to
detect different chemicals, including CWA simulants.
They have been widely used in a variety of applications like:1. Antistatic coatings
2. Touch display panels3. Solar cells,
4. Flat panel displays5. Heaters
6. Defrosters
7. Optical coatings etc
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5.1 Imaginative Examples of use of Transparent Electronics
You are travelling in a car and you want to watch a movie or video play.
Now the glass shields i.e. window panels will turn into a television screen and this
is possible with this technology. This is helpful when the driver can't take away hiseyes from road but still want to watch out a map of route. Then front window panel
acts display with the help of this tech.
Fig 5.1 Examples of Transparent Electronics Devices (Illustrative)
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Chapter-6
MARKET OF TRANSPARENT
ELECTRONICSEventually the materials suite used by transparent electronics will stabilize
and the role of organic electronics materials and nanomaterials in transparent
electronics will become clearer. But as we have explained above, the possible
technical directions that these materials are likely to take are fairly well defined;
although we should not exclude surprises entirely.
Fig 6.1 Forecast of Transparent Electronics Products by Application
Opportunities in the area of the transparent electronics products themselvescan be somewhat difficult to pick out. This is not just because of the diversity of
the possible products that can be built within the context of transparent electronics
paradigm, but also because both the actual past of transparent electronics so far and
the somewhat futuristic prognostications about transparent electronics that have
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been widely published are a distraction from understanding what can really be
achieved in the next few years with transparent electronics:
Too cool to succeed: Transparent electronics suffers, we believe, from the
fact that it is so cool that it virtually cries out to be built into highly futuristicscenarios. And this is exactly what has happened. Just a casual look at the literature
on transparent electronicseven the formal technical literatureusually reveals
quite quickly a slew of references to science fiction movies in which transparent
electronics are featured. The favorite in this regard is the Tom Cruise movie
Minority Report, but other movies are also referenced. This is all a lot of fun, but
gives a false impression of the current state of the art in transparent electronics and
what might be achieved using this technology. Watching Cruise in Minority
Report, it is never quite clear just why he is using transparent displays in his work.
In other words, these display are props not just in the sense that they are not
physically real (they dont actually function). They are also divorced from market
realities.
Current apps for transparent electronics are quite primitive:
Paradoxically, the other reason why systems opportunities in the transparent
electronics space can be difficult to identify is the exact opposite of the over-
optimism reported on in the previous bullet point. A quick examination of the
current offerings that might reasonably be included under the heading oftransparent electronics reveals not products that, with a little tinkering could
make it into Minority Report II, as it were, but rather primitive niche products.
For example, in the display space, if one looks for transparent displays, what
one will find are simple passive matrix LED and EL displays which represent a
tiny niche within the digital signage business; they are displays with very limited
functionality. Similarly, self-tinting smart windows have been around long enough
to show that they cannot compete with a conventional window, when a customer is
looking for something that enables good natural lighting and attractive views. Orwhere tinting is critical to the specific application, the difference between tinted
and untinted offered by a smart window is just not great enough. Again, we are
looking at products and concepts that are out of tune with market realities.
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6.1 Three Factors That Can Lead to the Commercial Awakening of
Transparent Electronics
Given all this, the big question is can transparent electronics move beyond
the fanciful on the one hand and low-performing niche products on the other? Inour view, there are four critical aspects of transparency that the design and
marketing of transparent electronics products needs to focus on for it to become a
serious revenue earner. These factors are (1) aesthetics, (2) integration (3)
improved economics and (4) (somewhat paradoxically), aspects of transparent
materials that are not directly related to transparency:
Other relevant drivers for transparent electronics may be discovered over
time, but these are the ones that seem to matter now.
As the transparent electronics materials suite that we discussed earlier
improves, it seems reasonable to expect an increased ability of transparent
electronics to compete over all and any of the three dimensions mentioned above.
6.1.1 Aesthetics
It is intrinsically hard to measure the impact of aesthetics on market
response, but important to remember that aesthetics has always been a key factor in
marketing glass products; the glass industry having a considerably longer history
and deeper understanding of marketing transparent products than the emerging
transparent electronics industry.
Aesthetics seems to be key too much of the transparent electronics that has
appeared to date. The simple transparent displays that is already available for use
in advertising use transparency to gain extra attention. And transparent solar
panels are being deployed in part because they look better than large framed solar
panels installed in an all-too-visible fashion on a roof.
6.1.2 Integration
Because transparency enables visual access to multiple layers of a large-area
panel it permits an additional level of integration. This is most obvious in the
transparent overlay displays that are already being built in prototype by the display
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industry; but it is also part of the design story in the smart-window concepts that
are being dreamed up that combine self-tinting windows, OLEDs and PV.
6.1.3 Improved economics
Obviously, in the end all of the advantages attributable to PV reduce to
improved economics, but in some cases this is more obviously the case. One
example of that is in the PV space again, where transparent solar panels represent
an example of building integrated PV in which the cost of building materials and
of PV can be distributed over a common substrate, thereby reducing total
expenditures.
6.1.4 Non-transparent aspects of transparent materials
As mentioned above, in the case of transparent conductors, some transparentelectronic materials have been developed without truly transparent electronics in
mind as an application. However, it is possible that the converse could be true as
well; that is that materials that are developed specifically with transparent
electronics in mind could find a larger market.
The primary exampleperhaps the only example, so farof this kind of thing
relates to the oxide TFTs that are being developed with transparent display
backplanes in mind. There is also serious consideration being given to the
possibility that these TFTs could be used in OLED displays more generallythat
is, in non-transparent OLED displayson price and performance grounds
Obviously, the business potential for transparent electronics is limited if all the
work and all the press releases concerned just materials and research devices. This
would suggest that the only market for the new materials would be the R&D
community, which is a real market and one that is extremely interested in buying
new materials; but in very small quantities.
Fortunately, there are also signs that the transparent electronics market isbeginning to move beyond the niche products that are mentioned above. It is
particularly gratifying that transparent displays are now moving from being the
province of little signage firms to one that interests the likes of Apple, LG,
Microsoft and Samsung. And when one digs down a little further it is possible to
find interest in designing transparent solar panels from major PV firms.
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Chapter-7
FUTURE SCOPEIt should be apparent from the discussion that although much progress has
been made in developing new materials and devices for high performance
transparent solar cells, there is still plenty of opportunity to study and improve
device performance and fabrication techniques compared with the nontransparent
solar cell devices. In particular, the stability of transparency solar cells has not
been studied yet. Solution-processable transparent PSCs have become a promising
emerging technology for tandem solar cell application to increase energy
conversion efficiency. The transparency of solar cells at a specific light band will
also lead to new applications such as solar windows. The field of energy harvesting
is gaining momentum by the increases in gasoline price and environment pollution
caused by traditional techniques. Continued breakthroughs in materials and device
performance, accelerate and establish industrial applications. It is likely that new
scientific discoveries and technological advances will continue to cross fertilize
each other for the foreseeable future.
Fig 7.1 Graphene is transparent and can be used as material
It would not be a complete surprise to find players in the smart window;
sensor and lighting industries also begin to invest substantially in transparent
electronics over the next few years.
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Chapter-8
CONCLUSION
Oxides represent a relatively new class of semiconductor materials appliedto active devices, such as TFTs. The combination of high field effect mobility and
low processing temperature for oxide semiconductors makes them attractive for
high performance electronics on flexible plastic substrates. The marriage of two
rapidly evolving areas of research, OLEDs and transparent electronics, enables the
realization of novel transparent OLED displays. This appealing class of see
through devices will have great impact on the humanmachine interaction in the
near future. EC device technology for the built environment may emerge as one of
the keys to combating the effects of global warming, and this novel technologymay also serve as an example of the business opportunities arising from the
challenges caused by climate changes The transparency of solar cells at a specific
light band will also lead to new applications such as solar windows. The field of
energy harvesting is gaining momentum by the increases in gasoline price and
environment pollution caused by traditional techniques. Let us hope that we are
soon going to see transparent technology being implemented in our lives.
Fig 8.1 Usage of Transparent Electronics devices in future
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Chapter-9
REFERENCES Transparent Electronics , Springer publications,
J.F.Wager, D. A. Keszler, R. E. Presley.
Transparent electronics: from synthesis to applications,Wiley publications: Antonio Facchetti, Tobin J. Marks.
www.wikipedia.org www.ieee.org www.alternative-energy-news.info/transparent-a-solar-energy-breakthrough/ www.nanomarkets.net www.nikkeibp.co.jp
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