Thermally induced porous structures in printed gallium coating to make transparent conductive film

Abstract

A directly printable gallium-based film with both optically transmissive and electrically conductive properties was proposed and demonstrated. The structures, electrical, and optical behaviors of the film printed on the substrate were experimentally investigated. It was disclosed that the porous structure induced inside the printed gallium film by thermal treatment is the main reason for the significant improvement of optical transmittance. A visible transmittance of 47% with a sheet resistance of 16.17 Ω/sq was obtained when the thermal treatment temperature and time are maintained at 400 °C and 40 min, respectively.