Solution Processing and Conversion of Transparent Metal Oxide Optical Coatings By Solid State Diffusion
Authors: Glynn Colm , Aureau Damien , Collins Gillian , O'Hanlon Sally , Etcheberry Arnaud , O'Dwyer Colm 
Published: February 2020

Many modern technologies are based on materials that are deposited on special underlying materials. Optical coatings can prevent tarnishing, give anti-reflection benefits, and in some cases filter out harmful UV rays. In consumer devices, many modern optoelectronic devices that make up a vast majority of electronic products such as active displays, touch screens etc. are based thin film transistors and transparent materials, as are parts of solar cells, smart windows, antireflection coatings for a range of devices and applications, anti-fingerprint and antifogging glass, among many other modern uses of see-through materials and coatings with well-defined characteristics in visible light.

While the science and technology of controlling materials into a whole host of electronics and photonic or optical devices has advanced considerably in the last decade, industry still requires all this to be done without using critical raw materials, expensive coating methods that are often very slow, and to do so at much lower temperatures for coating on to curved or flexible displays or materials – all without sacrificing quality that current methods provide.

Here, we report a facile solution processed technique for the formation of a transparent thin film through an inter-diffusion process involving substrate dopant species at a range of low annealing temperatures compatible with processing conditions required by many state-of-the-art devices. The inter-diffusion process facilitates the movement of Si, Na and O species from the substrate into the as-deposited vanadium oxide thin film forming a composite fully transparent V0.0352O0.547Si0.4078Na0.01. Thin film X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering spectroscopy show the crystalline component of the structure to be α-NaVO3 within a glassy matrix. This optical coating exhibits high broadband transparency, exceeding 90-97% absolute transmission across the UV-to-NIR spectral range, while having low roughness and free of surface defects and pinholes. The production of transparent films for advanced optoelectronic devices, optical coatings, and low- or high-k oxides is important for planar or complex shaped optics or surfaces. It provides opportunities for doping metal oxides to new ternary, quaternary or other mixed metal oxides on glass, encapsulants or other substrates that facilitate diffusional movement of dopant species.

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