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Transparent Conducting Coatings on Polymer Substrates for Touchscreens and Displays

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Handbook of Visual Display Technology

Abstract

There has been an interest in using polymer films as an alternative to glass substrates. Polymer substrates have the potential to reduce manufacturing costs by using roll-to-roll processing. Polymers also have improved flexibility and can reduce the weight of the final product. Many touch screens are constructions where two transparent conducting coatings are placed facing each other but separated by an array of small spacer dots and as one of the transparent coated films is pressed and distorted it contacts the other conducting film making electrical contact and completing the circuit. Thus, having a robust transparent conducting coating on a flexible polymer substrate has a ready-made market so long as it can meet the required specification. The polymers have to be coated at a lower temperature than glass making the transparent conducting coatings less conducting or transparent than can be achieved on glass and so there is a trade-off of properties. As the coating performance improves and the yield and costs reduce, the move to polymer substrates is expected to increase. This chapter highlights the basics of vacuum deposition of transparent conducting coatings onto polymer substrates.

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Abbreviations

AZO:

Aluminum-Doped Zinc Oxide

CIGS:

Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide

CIS:

Copper Indium Diselenide

CNT:

Carbon Nanotubes

ITO:

Indium Tin Oxide

MWCNT or MWNT:

Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

PEDOT:PSS:

Polyethylene-Dioxythiophene: Polystyrene Sulfonic Acid

PEN:

Polyester Naphthalate

PET:

Polyester Terephthalate

ppm:

Parts per Million

RI:

Refractive Index

SWCNT or SWNT:

Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes

TCO:

Transparent Conducting Oxide

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. C.A.Bishop Consulting Ltd, 5, Church Side, Shepshed, Nr. Loughborough, LE12 9RL, Leicestershire, UK

    Dr Charles A. Bishop C.Eng

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  1. Dr Charles A. Bishop C.Eng
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Correspondence to Charles A. Bishop C.Eng .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Janglin Chen

  2. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Wayne Cranton

  3. Veritas et Visus, Texas, USA

    Mark Fihn

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Bishop, C.A. (2012). Transparent Conducting Coatings on Polymer Substrates for Touchscreens and Displays. In: Chen, J., Cranton, W., Fihn, M. (eds) Handbook of Visual Display Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79567-4_64

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