Laser Deposits ITO on Flexible Substrate

A team of researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington has grown thin films of indium tin oxide on flexible substrates of polyethylene terephthalate using pulsed laser deposition. The technique may enable the production of organic LED displays for applications in which rigid glass substrates are unsuitable.

The group focused a 10-Hz KrF laser from Lambda Physik on a sintered oxide ceramic disc to deposit the ITO on the substrates. The organic LED comprised layers of N,N'-diphenyl-N, N-bis (3-methylphenyl)1,1'-diphenyl-4,4' diamine and tris (8-hydroxyquinolinolato) aluminum (III). The completed device, which they reported in the July 16 issue of Applied Physics Letters, displayed a luminous power efficiency of 1.6 lm/W.