Effect of Inductively Coupled Plasma on Multilayer Electrodes for Flexible Single-Layer Touch Screen Panels

Abstract

We investigated the effect of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) on multilayer electrodes for flexible capacitive touch sensors. We found that using ICP during Ag deposition generally increased the conductivity and transmittance of multilayer electrodes. As a result, in the case of the multilayer electrode with an ICP power of 150 W during Ag deposition, 5.7 Ω/sq of sheet resistance and 89.6% of transmittance (550 nm) have been achieved. We demonstrate that the crystallization of the ICP supplied Ag layer in multilayer electrodes leads to the smooth surface roughness of the multilayer film; the smooth surface roughness provided low light scattering. As a result, the crystallized Ag thin film by ICP improved the sheet resistance and transmittance of multilayer electrodes. Finally, we fabricated a 221 × 130 mm (active layer)-sized single-layer touch screen panel (TSP) using multilayer electrodes with ICP on a corning glass and polyethylene terephthalate flexible substrate. The single-layer TSPs show high linearity and sensitivity with multitouches.

High-Performance Flexible Transparent Conductive Films Enabled by a Commonly Used Antireflection Layer

“…Electronics such as bendable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), flexible touch screens, electronic papers, and wearable energy storage devices have flourished in recent years. − In these devices, a transparent conductive film (TCF) with good optical transparency, conductivity, and flexibility is highly desired. Currently, indium tin oxide (ITO) is still the most commonly used TCF material because of its low sheet resistance (<10 Ω/sq) and high transmittance (>90%). , However, the brittleness and complexity of the fabrication process of ITO film have hindered its wide application in the field that requires highly flexible and foldable performances.…”

Dielectric/ultrathin metal/dielectric structured transparent conducting films for flexible electronics

“…Compared with other competitors, such as metal mesh, metal nanowires, graphene, carbon nanotubes and conductive polymers, the DMD structured TCFs revealed unique features, including independent tune of optical and electrical properties, easy integration with interfacial layer, excellent flexible substrate compatibility, and large-area process compatibility etc. These advantages enabled their rapid applications in perovskite solar cells [1], electrochromic devices [2], touch sensors [3], transparent electromagnetic interference shielding [4], and transparent heaters [5].…”

“…In their work, by the exposure and oxidation of 1 nm thickness Cu seeding layer in air, a continuous Au film with a threshold thickness of 1 nm and a roughness of 0.22 nm was deposited, offering a possibility in achieving metal layer with extremely low threshold thickness. On the other hand, the optimized deposition condition can be used to improve the crystallization of Ag, and the crystallized Ag film triggered by inductively coupled plasma provided the DMD multilayer electrode with excellent sheet resistance and transmittance [3].…”