Transparent electrodes based on metal and metal oxide stacked layers grown at room temperature on polymer substrate

Transparent electrodes based on very thin stacked layers of Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) and Ag have been prepared on conventional soda lime glass and flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrates by sputtering at room temperature. The optical, electrical and structural characteristics of AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrodes have been analysed at different preparation stages and compared onto glass and polymer substrates. Such structures have shown sheet resistance below 6 Omega sq(-1) and maximum transmittance around 85% near 600 nm by discounting the corresponding substrate, with a low material consumption owing to the whole electrode thickness is below 100 nm. The band gap energy has been found dependent on the structural distortion of the as-grown polycrystalline AZO films, being both parameters higher on the polymer than on the glass substrates. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim