High quality transparent TiO2/Ag/TiO2 composite electrode films deposited on flexible substrate at room temperature by sputtering

Multilayer structures of TiO2/Ag/TiO2 have been deposited onto flexible substrates by room temperature sputtering to develop indium-free transparent composite electrodes. The effect of Ag thicknesses on optical and electrical properties and the mechanism of conduction have been discussed. The critical thickness (t(c)) of Ag mid-layer to form a continuous conducting layer is 9.5 nm and the multilayer has been optimized to obtain a sheet resistance of 5.7 Omega/sq and an average optical transmittance of 90% at 590 nm. The Haacke figure of merit (FOM) for t(c) has one of the highest FOMs with 61.4 x 10(-3) Omega(-1)/sq. (C) 2013 Author(s).