SBIR Phase I: Nanostructured Composite Transparent Electrodes for Touch Panels

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发我们集团之前开发的透明导电薄膜的必要技术，使其能够集成到功能性消费设备中，例如用于柔性显示器的电容式和电阻式触摸传感器。我们的团队目前正在制作基于银纳米线技术的透明导电薄膜。银纳米线网是取代锡掺杂氧化铟（ITO）在消费电子器件中最有前途的技术之一。与ITO相比，使用银纳米线的薄膜有几个优点，包括成本更低、灵活性和耐用性。为了使这些大块薄膜在大多数应用中有用，它们需要被模式化成电路。该项目侧重于实验室规模触摸传感器开发的透明导电薄膜的直接激光图案的可行性，以及开发与电子工业中使用的加工技术兼容的光刻方法。一旦这些工艺被开发出来，我们将使用这些导电薄膜制造原型触摸传感器，展示它们在该技术可以应用的许多商业应用之一中的用途。这个项目更广泛的商业影响在于图案技术本身的发展，以及将我们现有的导电薄膜转化为工作电子元件的能力。通过将原材料集成到一个工作组件中，这项研究将允许在实际的触摸屏设备中集成。这样的演示将使公司能够与使用触摸传感器技术的电子制造商取得进展，允许这些制造商开始将我们的透明导体技术集成到他们的产品中。除了这些影响之外，纳米线薄膜的光刻图图化研究将进一步推动图图化技术，从低通量、耗时的方法（直接激光图图化）过渡到高通量、公认的行业标准（光刻）。由于大多数电子制造商已经采用光刻工艺加工ITO，因此开发这种技术将使我们的材料能够直接替代当前生产线上的ITO，从而消除了昂贵的重新加工的需要。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop the technology necessary to pattern transparent conductive films previously developed by our group, allowing them to be integrated into functional consumer devices, such as capacitive and resistive touch sensors for flexible displays. Our team currently makes transparent conductive films based on silver nanowire technology. Silver nanowire meshes represent one of the most promising technologies to replace tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) in consumer devices. Films utilizing silver nanowires offer several advantages over ITO including lower cost, flexibility, and durability. For these bulk films to be useful in most applications, they need to be patterned into electrical circuits. This project focuses on the feasibility of direct laser patterning of these transparent conductive films for lab scale touch sensor development, as well as developing lithographic methods that will be compatible with processing techniques used in the electronics industry. Once these processes have been developed, we will create prototype touch sensors using these conductive films, demonstrating their use in one of many commercial applications to which this technology can be applied.The broader/commercial impact of this project lies in both the development of the patterning technology itself, as well as the ability to turn our existing conductive film into a working electronic component. By enabling the integration of raw material into a working component, this research will allow for the integration in an actual touch screen device. Such demonstrations will allow the company to gain inroads with manufacturers of electronics that make use of touch sensor technology, permitting these manufacturers to begin integration of our transparent conductor technology into their products. Beyond these impacts, the research on lithographic patterning of nanowire films will push the patterning technology further, transitioning from a low-throughput, time-intensive method (direct laser patterning) to a high-throughput, accepted industry standard (lithography). Because most electronics manufacturers already process ITO lithographically, developing this technique will enable our materials to be a direct replacement for ITO in current manufacturing lines, eliminating the need for costly retooling.