Optical and Electrical Properties of Cr-SiO Thin Films for Flat Panel Displays

Abstract

ABSTRACTLow temperature fabrication of transparent conducting materials is a key issue in flat panel display production. Though Cr-SiO cermet thin films have predominantly been used as thin film resistors in a variety of microelectronics applications, it is shown in this paper that the material can successfully be used as a transparent to semi-transparent conductor in some applications if the value of the extinction coefficient, k, can be kept low (<0.3). Thus, a detailed study of the interdependence of the resistivity and optical properties of Cr-SiO is presented for the first time within the context of its use in the flat panel display industry. Specifically, Cr-SiO can be employed as part of Luxell's optical interference structure, known as the Black Layer™, US patent 5,049,780, used to increase contrast in TFEL and OLED displays.