Transparent hybrid substrates, devices employing such substrates, and methods for fabrication and use thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018342702-A1
Application number	US-201815987634-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 23, 2018
Priority date	May 23, 2017
Publication date	Nov 29, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A porous base substrate is infiltrated with a polymer material to form a hybrid substrate that combines the optical advantages of both. Prior to infiltration, the base substrate may exhibit relatively low optical transmittance. For example, the base substrate may be paper, textiles, aerogels, natural wood, or any other porous material. By infiltrating the base substrate with a polymer having a similar refractive index to that of the material of the base substrate, the transmittance can thus be improved, resulting in, for example, a transparent hybrid substrate that exhibits both relatively high optical haze and relatively high optical transmittance within the visible light spectrum. The hybrid substrate can thus serve as a base for fabricating electronic devices or can be coupled to electronic devices, especially optical devices that can take utilize the unique optical properties of the hybrid substrate.

First claim

1 . A device comprising:
a hybrid substrate including:
a base substrate having a plurality of pores therein; and
a first polymer material filling the pores of the base substrate,
wherein the pores of the base substrate are between 10 nm and 500 nm, inclusive.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the base substrate comprises at least one of paper composed of cellulose fibers, a woven textile composed of natural or artificial fibers, an non-woven textile composed of natural or artificial fibers, an aerogel, a matrix composed of natural or artificial fibers, a material with aligned pores, and natural wood material.

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first polymer material has a refractive index within 2% of a refractive index of a material of the base substrate.

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
an optical transmittance of the hybrid substrate with respect to light within a wavelength range of 400 nm to 1100 nm, inclusive, is greater than that of the base substrate without the first polymer material, and an optical haze of the hybrid substrate with respect to light within the wavelength range of 400 nm to 1100 nm, inclusive, is greater than that of the first polymer material alone.

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein an optical transmittance of the hybrid substrate is 80-95% and an optical haze of the hybrid substrate is 50-95%.

6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one surface of the hybrid substrate has a surface roughness (arithmetic average roughness) less than 10 nm.

7 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an electronic device on a surface of the hybrid substrate, wherein the electronic device includes at least one of an electronic circuit, a light source, an energy converting device, and an energy storage device.

8 . A method comprising:
(a) providing a base substrate having a plurality of pores therein; and (b) filling the pores of the base substrate with a first polymer material to form a hybrid substrate, wherein the pores of the base substrate are between 10 nm and 500 μm, inclusive.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the base substrate comprises at least one of paper composed of cellulose fibers, a woven textile composed of natural or artificial fibers, an non-woven textile composed of natural or artificial fibers, an aerogel, a matrix composed of natural or artificial fibers, a material with aligned pores, and natural wood material.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first polymer material has a refractive index within 2% of a refractive index of a material of the base substrate.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein (b) includes:
(b1) coating at least one surface of the base substrate with a precursor for the first polymer material; and (b2) after (b1), curing to form the hybrid substrate, with the first polymer material infiltrating the base substrate.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising forming a flat template, wherein the curing of (b2) is performed with the flat template in contact with the at least one surface of the base substrate.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the flat template comprises a material that does not adhere to the cured first polymer material.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein (b1) comprises passing the base substrate through a bath of the precursor for the first polymer material.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein at least (b1) is performed using a roll-to-roll fabrication setup.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising, prior to (b2), removing excess precursor from the at least one surface of the base substrate.

17 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
(c) forming an electronic device on the hybrid substrate, wherein the electronic device includes at least one of an electronic circuit, a light source, an energy converting device, and an energy storage device.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein (c) comprises at least one of:
transferring a previously fabricated electronic device onto a surface of the hybrid substrate; and patterning of various layers deposited over a surface of the hybrid substrate to form the electronic device.

19 . The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of:
after (b), an optical transmittance of the hybrid substrate with respect to light within a wavelength range of 400 nm to 1100 nm, inclusive, is greater than that of the base substrate prior to (b), and after (b), an optical haze of the hybrid substrate with respect to light within the wavelength range of 400 nm to 1100 nm, inclusive, is greater than that of the first polymer material alone.

20 . The method of claim 8 , wherein, after (b), an optical transmittance of the hybrid substrate is 80-95% and an optical haze of the hybrid substrate is 50-95%.

Assignees

• Univ Maryland

Inventors

• Hu Liangbing
• Yao Yonggang
• Li Tian

Classifications

• H01L29/78603

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0547

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0304

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L51/0097

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L51/5268 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic