Advanced Materials

This article introduces some of the research and content of the new IDTechEx report "Transparent Conductive Films (TCF) 2014-2024: Forecasts, Technologies, Players."

In this second report based on 35 company visits and our conference in Tokyo, July through September 2013, we look at some more trends identified.

Meggitt A/S is located in Denmark and is part of Meggitt PLC, a FTSE 100 global engineering company with annual sales of £1.6 billion. They own and develop InSensor, a technology based on thick film piezoelectric ceramics. They use screen-printing to make various piezoelectric devices in sensing and energy harvesting. One particularly successful device made with InSensor is an ultrasonic transceivers for medical imaging.

Mordovia State University officially opened a laboratory to research and study thin-film technologies (100 nm and less) using atomic layer deposition (ALD) with Beneq's TFS 200 equipment.

The decision by Bluestone Global Tech to locate their European production plant at the home of graphene could attract a significant number of jobs to the city.

From July through September 2013 we have visited 35 companies and interviewed many delegates at our Printed Electronics Asia event in Tokyo as well as reviewing the lectures and talking to the lecturers. This article shares some of the trends in Japanese printed electronics and allied subjects that have emerged. It is only a taster from the huge database of information acquired and interpreted by IDTechEx analysts. Over the years, the task has been made difficult by the Japanese predilection for changing company names and this cannot help their business activity.

IDTechEx has completed its forecasts for transparent conductive film and glass in a range of applications, including smart phones, tablets, notebooks, monitors, TVs, OLED lighting, organic photovoltaics, dye-sensitised solar cells, and electroluminescent displays.

NikkoIA is a French company making organic-based image sensors with an exclusive worldwide license from Siemens who originally developed the technology. The company has achieved making some prototypes with minimal investment so far. One to watch over the coming years to see if they can create viable commercial products.

Graphene LIVE! will take place on 20-21 November 2013 at Santa Clara, California.

Sputtered ITO is the dominant technology used as a transparent conductive layer in a variety of applications, including LCD and OLED displays and touch screens. ITO has a well-established value chain as well as a high installed and largely-depreciated production capacity.

Direct printing is a method of creating transparent conductive films based on the metal mesh concept. Silver nanoparticles can be deposited on flexible substrates using high-throughput deposition techniques such as flexo and gravure printing. Direct printing has the potential to lower cost when the production volumes are high. The sheet resistance can also be low and the BoM small despite using expensive (in $/m2) silver nanoparticles. The linewidth however is around 20-25 um and is therefore visible to the naked eye. The surface is also highly corrugated, requiring a planarising agent when the device stack is ultrathin (e.g., OLEDs). We will assess the technology, trends and players commercialising directly-printed metal mesh transparent conductive films. In particular, we will describe the key production technologies, assess key product performance metrics, carry out detailed SWOT analysis, highlight current and likely future uses, and identify key players globally.

Metal mesh is an emerging technology option for creating transparent conductive films. Metal mesh transparent conductors can offer low sheet resistance, reasonable optical transmission, value chain simplification, and low cost.

A new transparent, bioinspired coating makes ordinary glass tough, self-cleaning and incredibly slippery according to Researchers

Just an atom thick, 200 times stronger than steel and a near-perfect conductor, graphene's future in electronics is all but certain.

PEDOT:PSS is an organic conductor that can be used as a transparent conductive film material. PEDOT has already found high-volume commercial use as a capacitor electrode material, as well as the material used in electrostatic discharge films employed in the LCD industry. Its commercialisation progress as a transparent conductive material has, however, been slow to date. In this article, IDTechEx offers a detailed and independent assessment of the latest progress in PEDOT's performance improvement, patterning techniques, cost reduction, product and prototype development, and commercialisation success.

Large flakes of graphene oxide are the essential ingredient in a new recipe for robust carbon fiber created at Rice University.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has the potential to provide effective moisture barrier at low cost. Beneq is the leading the development of roll-to-roll ALD, which is more suitable for flexible susbtrates. However, the technology is not mature yet.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of multiple technology options for making transparent conductive films (TCFs). Similar to graphene, there are many different types of CNTs and many production techniques. The main processes are arc discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapour deposition (CVD); while the main types are single, double or multi-wall, and semiconducting and metallic. This article assesses the latest progress with using CNTs as transparent conductive films. IDTechEx outlines the latest improvements in performance, manufacturing processes and cost. It identifies key players globally and discusses their business models and progress with commercialisation. Where appropriate, it makes reference to competing technology options such metal mesh, silver nanowires, graphene, PEDOT:PSS, etc. This article provides a realistic assessment and insight into the fortunes of carbon nanotubes in the future of the fast changing transparent conductive film industry.

Clear-jet has developed a technology for creating pre-patterned transparent conductive films using specially-formulated inkjet printed silver nanoparticles. The technology is based on the so-called 'coffee stain' effect and promises to simplify the value chain by combining the deposition and patterning steps in one-go.

XinNano Materials Inc is a Taiwanese supplier of CVD CNT powders and inks. They have traditionally supplied into the X-ray and field-emission display markets, but are now in the processing of diversifying into the touch sensor markets where their CNTs can be used to produce transparent conductive films.