See-Through Thin-Film Transistor Unveiled

Transparent electronics may seem the stuff of science fiction, but engineers from Oregon State University and Hewlett-Packard Co. in Corvallis, Ore., have developed zinc-oxide-based thin-film transistors that they hope will find applications in liquid crystal displays and elsewhere. They reported the devices, which display optical transmission in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum of approximately 75 percent, in the Feb. 3 issue of Applied Physics Letters.

The team fabricates the N-type semiconductor devices by depositing a layer of indium tin oxide and aluminum titanium oxide on a glass substrate. The zinc-oxide channel and indium-tin-oxide source and drain electrodes are subsequently added to the stack by ion-beam sputtering.