Silver nanowire instead of ITO film 12.11.2013

Today, the Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) conductive film technology, which is used in the production of transparent electrodes for liquid crystal screens, OLEDs, touch displays, as ohmic contacts to solar cells, as well as in other optoelectronic devices, may lose its position more advanced alternative solutions capable of entering this market and pushing out the ITO technology that has been established there.

The priority direction for ITO technology is the use of films as a coating for touch panels of modern displays. According to IHS Inc.'s Touch-Panel-Use Transparent Conductive Film Report - 2013, electrically conductive ITO films, which combine indium(III) oxide and tin(IV) oxide, account for 95% of the market for transparent conductive coatings for touch screens. But there is a high probability that by the end of 2017, an alternative technology may enter this segment and displace ITO from the position of the undisputed undisputed leader.

Such an alternative can be the use of silver nanowire, copper and silver mesh, silver halide. These technological solutions are predicted to be able to capture about 2017% of the market by 34, leaving 2/3 for ITO. Such a prospect could hit ITO positions hard, because even now the supply of films without the content of indium oxide and tin oxide compounds in their composition is on the way to a large-scale jump, which, according to reports for this year, has already amounted to 320%. This indicator is a record of annual growth in the market of modern technologies according to IHS experts.

The ITO compound is applied in two components: film and glass. The specific surface resistance of the film is very large and equals 100 Ohm/m2, which means that the limit of using such material in touch panels is limited to a diagonal of 15". As for ITO-glass, its resistance is 2 times less than the resistance of the film - 50 Ohm/m2, therefore such glasses are used in panels with a diagonal of more than 15". Despite technological shortcomings, the use of ITO glass is possible up to 30" displays.

The main stumbling block in the development of ITO technology for touch displays, as the main component, is the sharply increasing demand for touch panels with large diagonals. "Here, ITO has serious functional weaknesses and limitations," said Irene Heo, principal analyst for display materials and components at IHS, in a presentation. The main purpose of touch panels until recently were devices that used small displays - smartphones, tablets, car navigation systems, ATM displays. But the need for the production of large-scale touch panels is becoming more relevant and necessary every year. The increased demand for devices such as electronic whiteboards and All-in-One personal computers is pushing the manufacturer to abandon ITO and stimulate the development of an alternative direction - the use of technology without indium tin oxide.

Coatings without the use of an ITO compound compete with both ITO films and ITO glasses of various sizes, and also fill a free niche for devices with a large display diagonal, where an ITO compound cannot be used in principle. It is this direction that provides today, first of all, the increased demand for alternative electrically conductive films.

It should not be forgotten that the production of ITO coatings is quite expensive and limited due to the rare indium metal, whose oxide makes up 90% of the mass fraction of the compound. Therefore, the use of films without these elements is not only a technically more advanced step, but also an opportunity to obtain a significant economic effect.