By Gopika G, Ph.DJul 19 2023Reviewed by Megan Craig, M.Sc. Semiconducting materials are the primary building blocks for electronic devices. Flexible and Transparent Electronics: Current Market A market survey for transparent electronics reported by IDTechEx predicts market growth of twenty billion dollars by 2041. According to the report, thin film transistors , display devices, photovoltaics, smart windows are a few of the transparent electronics likely to be the highest in demand.
Semiconductors for Flexible and Transparent Electronics Generally speaking, the materials mainly studied for transparent and flexible electronics are amorphous semiconductors, semiconducting transparent oxides, metal chalcogenides, and nanowires. One publication in Nature demonstrated the fabrication of transparent thin film transistors using transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors . High charge mobility, room temperature processing and stable performance under bending conditions were found to be the material's advantages.
The carrier mobility in the transistor was recorded ~100 times more than that recorded by a-Si-based TFTs. The device showed good temperature stability, along with several other parameters ideal for enhancing TFTs. Building devices over flexible and transparent substrates have few constraints, such as processing temperature. Plastic substrates are much more suitable for such applications but require a processing temperature below the glass transition temperature, after which the plastic will degrade.
How to Make a Semiconductor Wafer References and Further Reading IDTechEx. Available at: https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-report/transparent-electronics-materials-markets-2021-2041/795.