Highly transparent and low resistance BaSnO3/Ag nanowire composite thin films

Highly transparent and low resistance composite thin films with a bilayer structure composed of barium stannate (BSO) and silver nanowires (Ag NWs) are manufactured on polycarbonate (PC) substrates. The Ag NW networks are embedded into the BSO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering. The BSO/Ag NW composites possess low sheet resistance of 9.1 omega/sq. and high transmittance of 84.7 % at four spin-coating cycles, these are superior to that of bare Ag NWs and flexible ITO films. The mechanisms of improved transmittance and conductivity of BSO/Ag NW composites are proposed. The resistance remains mostly intact after beading tests at curvature radius of 3.0 mm and taping tests with 30 cycles, indicating the excellent flexibility and adhesiveness. More importantly, the BSO/Ag NW composites possess excellent oxidation resistance, thermal and chemical stabilities. These results suggest that BSO/Ag NW composites can be utilized for the fabrication of flexible electronics.