Silver based conductive layer for flexible electronics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9408303-B2
Application number	US-201514807336-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 23, 2015
Priority date	Dec 14, 2012
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

Coated articles are disclosed. The coated articles include a doped or alloyed silver layer sandwiched between two layers of transparent conductive oxide such as indium tin oxide (ITO). The doped silver or silver alloy layer can be thin, such as between 1. 5 to 20 nm and thus can be transparent. The doped silver or silver alloy can provide improved ductility property, allowing the conductive stack to be bendable. The transparent conductive oxide layers can also be thin, allowing the conductive stack can have improved ductility property.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A coated article comprising:
substrate comprising a transparent and flexible material;
a first layer formed over the substrate, wherein the first layer comprises a first transparent conductive oxide material;
a second layer formed over the first layer, wherein the second layer comprises silver and a hydroxide dopant; and
a third layer formed over the second layer, wherein the third layer comprises a second transparent conductive oxide material.

2. The coated article of claim 1 wherein the hydroxide dopant comprises at least one of Ti, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ni, Sn, Ta, Pt, Bi, or Sb.

3. The coated article of claim 2 wherein the second layer consists of silver and the hydroxide dopant.

4. The coated article of claim 3 wherein the hydroxide dopant comprises at least one of Ta and Bi.

5. The coated article of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first transparent conductive oxide material and the second transparent conductive oxide material comprises indium tin oxide.

6. The coated article of claim 1
wherein the concentration of the hydroxide dopant in the second layer is between 0.1 wt % and 10 wt %.

7. The coated article of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the second layer is between 1.5 nm to 20 nm.

8. The coated article of claim 7 wherein the thickness of the second layer is between 5 nm to 12 nm.

9. The coated article of claim 1 wherein the transparent and flexible material comprises an organic polymer.

10. The coated article of claim 1 wherein the second layer is formed directly on the first layer, and the third layer is formed directly on the second layer.

11. A coated article comprising:
a substrate, wherein the substrate comprises a transparent and flexible material;
a first layer formed over the substrate, wherein the first layer comprises indium tin oxide;
a second layer formed over the first layer, wherein the second layer comprises silver and a hydroxide dopant; and
a third layer formed over the second layer, wherein the third layer comprises indium tin oxide.

12. The coated article of claim 11
wherein the concentration of the hydroxide dopant in the second layer is between 0.1 wt % and 10 wt %.

13. The coated article of claim 11 wherein the hydroxide dopant comprises at least one of Ti, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ni, Sn, Ta, Pt, Bi, or Sb.

14. The coated article of claim 13 wherein the hydroxide dopant comprises at least one of Ta and Bi.

15. The coated article of claim 14 wherein the second layer consists of silver and the hydroxide dopant.

16. The coated article of claim 15 wherein the second layer is formed directly on the first layer, and the third layer is formed directly on the second layer.

17. The coated article of claim 16 wherein the first layer is formed directly on the substrate.

18. The coated article of claim 11 wherein the thickness of the second layer is between 1.5 nm to 20 nm.

19. The coated article of claim 18 wherein the thickness of the second layer is between 5 nm to 12 nm.

20. The coated article of claim 11 wherein the transparent and flexible material comprises an organic polymer.

Assignees

• Intermolecular Inc
• Intermolecular Inc

Inventors

• Hassan Mohd Fadzli Anwar
• Ding Guowen
• Le Minh Huu
• Nguyen Minh Anh
• Sun Zhi-Wen
• Zhang Guizhen

Classifications

• H05K1/0274

  Optical details, e.g. printed circuits comprising integral optical means (H05K1/0269 takes precedence; coupling light guides with opto-electronic components G02B6/42) · CPC title

• Y10T428/265

  1 mil or less · CPC title

• C23C28/42

  characterized by the composition of the alternating layers · CPC title

• C23C30/00

  Coating with metallic material characterised only by the composition of the metallic material, i.e. not characterised by the coating process (C23C26/00, C23C28/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• H05K1/092 Primary

  Dispersed materials, e.g. conductive pastes or inks · CPC title