Patterning Indium Tin Oxide Using Self-Assembled Monolayers as Etch Resists for Photovoltaic and Display Devices

Abstract

In this study, a patterning method of indium tin oxide (ITO) that uses selfassembled monolayers (SAMs), as an etch resist, and mixed organic acid etching solution is presented. In this method, octadecylphosphonic acid (CH 3 (CH 2 ) 17 PO 3 H 2 ) is used for SAMbased surface modification of ITO. Consequently, ultraviolet light (UV)−ozone exposure over a substrate through a mask results in the removal of the SAMs over the exposed regions. The bare and SAM-covered ITO surfaces were characterized by XPS, SEM, and contact angle measurements. The patterned SAMs are used as the etch resist, while the bare region of the ITO is etched by a mixture of oxalic and tartaric acids in a controlled fashion. The method is easy-to-do, cost-effective, high-throughput, and versatile to pattern ITO; and it has a potential application in large-area display and photovoltaic device fabrication as well as pattering of nanostructures.

Photonic Characterisation of Indium Tin Oxide as a Function of Deposition Conditions

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https:// www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/nano13131990/s1, Figure S1: Electron Beam Lithography Patterning Process; Figures S2 and S3: Atomic Force Microscopy Analysis; Figure S4: Fourier transform SEM analysis; Table S1 S2 and S3: Uncertainty Analysis; Figure S8: GMR Effective Bandwidth. References [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] are cited in the Supplementary Materials.…”

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: , Figure S1: Electron Beam Lithography Patterning Process; Figures S2 and S3: Atomic Force Microscopy Analysis; Figure S4: Fourier transform SEM analysis; Table S1: Anneal Parameter Variation; Figure S5: Optical Measurement Setup; Figure S6: Automated RCWA Analysis; Figure S7: Drude Regression Fit Analysis; Tables S2 and S3: Uncertainty Analysis; Figure S8: GMR Effective Bandwidth. References [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ] are cited in the Supplementary Materials.…”

Selective Copper Electroplating on Patterned Self-Assembled Monolayers for Photovoltaic Applications

“…An adhesion layer of nickel is required before copper electrodeposition on transparent conductive oxides . As nickel and copper electrolytes are strongly acidic, the monolayer, in addition to acting as a plating mask, protects the underlying ITO against these corrosive solutions. ,,, Reported results were obtained employing octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA), known to form ordered SAMs due to its long alkyl chain, which showed an etching resistance (ER) of 10 min in a copper electrolyte. As nickel could not be plated with a high selectivity (i.e., parasitic plating was present), copper plating was not performed in this previous work.…”