Technological Challenges for Transparent Conductors

Transparent conductors (TCs) have a variety of properties that can limit their performance in various applications. These properties include their optical and electronic behavior: optical transparency, electrical conductivity, plasma wavelength, ultraviolet absorption edge, work function, conductivity type; factors affecting device fabrication: synthesis temperature, thermal stability, resistance to plasmas, ease of etching; and factors affecting their usage: chemical durability, surface roughness, hardness, mechanical flexibility, cost and toxicity. For each of these properties, particular devices are identified for which that property is particularly important in limiting its performance. Some possible methods to improve these limiting properties are also discussed.