Touch screens of smartphones and displays have firmly entered our lives. It remains to make them even better - brighter, stronger, more flexible, more reliable and cheaper. As it turned out, scientists from Australia can offer improvements on each of the above points.
A group of Australian scientists from the University of New South Wales, Monash University and the ARC Center of Excellence for Low Energy Electronics Technology (FLEET) published in the journal Nature Electronics the results of research in which they learned how to create the thinnest electrically conductive film, the properties of which allow it to serve as a touch screen . It is alleged that the film is obtained almost atomic thickness.
From several layers of such a film, it is possible to create flexible touch screens for smartphones or displays, the transparency of which will be higher than traditional touchscreens made from modern indium-tin oxide (ITO) films. Conventional ITO touch screens absorb up to 10% of display backlight light. The 2D film proposed by scientists (which indicates the thickness of its layer) absorbs only 0,7% of light. Obviously, this transparency can be converted into a smartphone battery reserve, which will simply allow devices to work longer with a lower backlight brightness.
Even more useful, the production process of the ultra-thin touchscreen is very simple. As scientists joke, you can cook it yourself in your kitchen from the available ingredients. It is necessary to heat the alloy of tin and indium to 200 ΒΊC, and as soon as they become liquid, roll the melt into a thin layer on a silicone mat. Seriously speaking, the proposed technical process involves the roll production of a thin film for the touchscreen using a method similar to printing newspapers in printing houses. It turns out much cheaper and without maintaining a vacuum, as required by the modern technical process for the production of "thick" touchscreens from ITO.
At the moment, scientists are trying to get a patent for their invention and are preparing to release prototypes of nanometer-thick touchscreens. If they succeed, the technology could find applications not only in smartphones, but also in broad areas of optoelectronics, solar panels and smart windows for rooms.
Source: 3dnews.ru