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US 10,319,489 B2Granted
Scratch resistant flexible transparent electrodes and methods for fabricating ultrathin metal films as electrodes
AssigneeUniversity of Houston System
InventorsZhifeng Ren, Chuanfei Guo, Yuan Liu
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Abstract
Systems and methods of fabricating electrodes, including thin metallic films, include depositing a first metallic layer on a substrate and passivating the deposited layer. The processes of deposition and passivation may be done sequentially. In some embodiments, a plurality of substrates may be coated with a metallic layer and further processed at a later time, including passivation and disposal of additional layers as discussed herein.
Claims18
A method of fabricating an electrode comprising:
- depositing a first metallic layer in contact with a substrate, wherein the substrate comprises glass, silicon, or a polymer;
- passivating the first metallic layer via exposure to air or oxygen gas to form a passivated first layer;
- depositing a second metallic layer in contact with the passivated first layer;
- and passivating the second metallic layer via exposure to air or oxygen gas, wherein each of the first and the second metallic layers comprises silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), or a combination thereof, is continuous, and comprises a plurality of grains, wherein an average diameter of the plurality of grains is less than about 50 nm and wherein the electrode comprises an optical transmittance between 40% to about 89%.
1 more element
An electrode comprising:
- a plurality of metallic layers deposited on a substrate, including a first metallic layer in contact with the substrate, wherein the substrate comprises glass, silicon, or a polymer;
- and an oxide layer between each adjacent pair of metallic layers, wherein each of the plurality of metallic layers comprises silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), or a combination thereof, is continuous, and comprises a plurality of grains, wherein an average grain size in each metallic layer of the plurality of metallic layers is less than 50 nm as a result of passivation of each of the metallic layers prior to deposition of a subsequent of the plurality of metallic layers in contact therewith, and wherein the electrode comprises an optical transmittance between 40% to about 89%.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.