Low cost transparent conductors based on zinc oxide

Licensing opportunity

A transparent conductor that provides a low cost, high performance alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO), with potential applications in displays, lighting and electro-magnetic interference shielding, is available for license through Isis, the technology transfer arm of Oxford University, UK.

ITO is the most frequently used material in transparent conductive coatings for liquid crystal displays, flat panel displays, plasma displays, touch panels, electronic inks, organic light-emitting diodes, solar cells, lighting, antistatic coatings and electromagnetic shielding.  But while it provides an excellent combination of electrical conductivity and optical transparency, ITO is expensive, and a major consumer of the world’s very scarce indium supply.

The Oxford invention involves the optimisation of zinc oxide (ZnO)-based materials. Although these have attracted interest for electronic applications for many years in view of their suitable band gap and electron density and mobility, exploitation has been limited by their electrical conductivity.

Now researchers at Oxford and Birmingham universities have optimised doped ZnO-based materials.  This work has not only involved the synthesis of these materials, but also their thin film deposition and subsequent characterisation. The new doped ZnO materials are proposed as a replacement for ITO. Isis says they offer a number of advantages, including high conductivity to within an order of magnitude of ITO; greater than 80 per cent optical transparency for comparable film thicknesses and, given that ZnO is an abundant material, much lower cost.

The ZnO materials are compatible with several industrial deposition and patterning techniques.

The work is the subject of a UK patent application, and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents.  Please contact the Isis Project Manager to discuss this further, quoting Project Number 3043 Low Cost Transparent Conductors, or go to http://www.isis-innovation.com/licensing/select-project.html, and enter project number 3043.