Systems, compositions and methods for metal oxynitride deposition using high-base pressure reactive sputtering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025236944-A1
Application number	US-202218697974-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 30, 2022
Priority date	Nov 30, 2021
Publication date	Jul 24, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, compositions, and methods for using reactive magnetron sputtering to encapsulate nanowire networks to improve their chemical, thermal, and electrical stability while maintaining transparency are disclosed. For example, oxynitride films are deposited onto silver nanowire networks using full-metal targets without imparting oxidative damage onto the nanowires. The oxynitrides can be deposited using residual water vapor in the chamber that can take advantage of relatively poor vacuum conditions, which would be compatible with high-volume roll-to-roll sputtering approaches, and would also reduce the cost of encapsulating sensitive metal nanostructures which would encounter high temperatures, currents, or humidity. The resulting films can be applicable in a wide variety of fields as transparent encapsulants, where metal nanostructures would need to be protected from harsh environmental conditions and/or high temperatures-including but not limited to: solar cell electrodes, transparent heaters, touch screens, and LEDs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electrode device, comprising:
a substrate material; a solution-phase wire material; and an encapsulant film disposed on a surface of the solution-phase wire material, the encapsulant film comprising a sputtered oxynitride, the sputtered oxynitride including a metal and nitrogen, wherein a linear resistance of the solution-phase wire material having the encapsulant film disposed on its surface is less than a linear resistance of the solution-phase wire material having no encapsulant film disposed on its surface.

2 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein a thermal stability of the electrode device is approximately 100° C. above a failure point of an electrode device that lacks an encapsulant film disposed on a surface of the solution-phase wire material.

3 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate material comprises one or more of glass, silicon, or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

4 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein a form factor of the solution-phase wire material is approximately in a range of about 20 nm to about 200 nm.

5 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein the solution-phase wire material contains one or more of Ag or Cu nanowires, Ag or Cu nanotroughs, or lithographically patterned Ag or Cu micro- or nano-structures.

6 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the encapsulant film is approximately in a range of about 0 nm to about 100 nm.

7 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein the oxynitride comprises one or more of AlO x N y , TiO x N y , or ZrO x N y .

8 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein a percentage of the nitrogen in the encapsulant film is approximately in a range of about 0% of a total atomic composition of the film to about 30% of a total atomic composition of the film.

9 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein an electrical stability with applied linear voltages for the electrode device is about 7.87 V/cm without resistance.

10 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein an electrical stability with applied linear voltages for the electrode device is approximately 1.66 times larger than an electrode device that lacks an encapsulant film disposed on a surface of the solution-phase wire material.

11 . The electrode device of claim 1 , wherein a chemical stability of the electrode device has an increase in linear resistance that is approximately fifty times smaller than an electrode device that lacks an encapsulant film disposed on a surface of the solution-phase wire material.

12 . A method of manufacturing a transparent electrode, comprising:
sputtering a metal target material with one or more gases, at least one of which includes nitrogen, in a sputtering chamber to eject one or more solid particles of the metal target material; reacting the one or more solid particles with the one or more gases to form a resulting material; and depositing the resulting material onto a substrate having one or more nanowires disposed thereon, the resulting material forming a film when deposited onto the substrate having one or more nanowires disposed thereon, wherein the resulting material conforms to one or more of the substrate or the nanowires to surround the one or more of the substrate or the nanowires at least across a circumference of the nanowires.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the resulting material is directly deposited onto one or more of the substrate or the nanowires as an encapsulant configured to prevent damage thereto.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the resulting material is deposited using residual water vapor in the sputtering chamber.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more gases comprise one or more of argon (Ar), nitrogen (N 2 ), oxygen (O 2 ¬ ), or water (H 2 O).

16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising conditioning the nanowires prior to sputtering by removing a portion of one or more compounds from a surface thereof.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein conditioning comprises at least one of vacuum or plasma exposure.

18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the metal target comprises one or more of aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), zinc (Zn), hafnium (Hf), silicon (Si), metalloids, semiconductors, alloys, or combinations thereof.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the resulting material is deposited with a substrate temperature approximately in the range of about 298 K to about 900 K.

20 . An electrode device, comprising:
a substrate material; a solution-phase wire material; and an encapsulant film applied to the solution-phase wire material, the encapsulant film comprising an oxynitride formed by sputtering a metal target with nitrogen gas, the film forming on a surface of the solution-phase wire material when applied thereto, wherein a linear resistance of the solution-phase wire material having the encapsulant film applied thereto decreases after the encapsulant film is applied thereto.

Assignees

• Massachusetts Inst Technology

Inventors

• Patil Jatin Jayesh
• Grossman Jeffrey C

Classifications

• C23C14/0036

  Reactive sputtering · CPC title

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title

• C23C14/223

  specially adapted for coating particles · CPC title

• C23C14/0676 Primary

  Oxynitrides · CPC title