Transparent Electronics: From Synthesis to Applications

The challenge for producing “invisible” electronic circuitry and opto-electronic devices is that the transistor materials must be transparent to visible light yet have good carrier mobilities. This requires a special class of materials having “contra-indicated properties” because from the band structure point of view, the combination of transparency and conductivity is contradictory.

Structured to strike a balance between introductory and advanced topics, this monograph juxtaposes fundamental science and technology / application issues, and essential materials characteristics versus device architecture and practical applications. The first section is devoted to fundamental materials compositions and their properties, including transparent conducting oxides, transparent oxide semiconductors, p-type wide-band-gap semiconductors, and single-wall carbon nanotubes. The second section deals with transparent electronic devices including thin-film transistors, photovoltaic cells, integrated electronic circuits, displays, sensors, solar cells, and electro-optic devices.

Describing scientific fundamentals and recent breakthroughs such as the first “invisible” transistor, Transparent Electronics: From Synthesis to Applications brings together world renowned experts from both academia, national laboratories, and industry.

Antonio Facchetti is a research professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Center at Northwestern University in Evanston (USA). He obtained his Laurea degree in Chemistry cum laude and a PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Milan (Italy). Professor Facchetti then carried out postdoctoral research at the University of California-Berkeley with Profesor Andrew Streitwieser and at Northwestern University with Professor Tobin J. Marks and in 2002 he joined Northwestern University. Professor Facchetti is a co-founder of Polyera Corporation and has published about 110 research articles and holds 23 patents. His research interests include organic semiconducting and dielectric materials, conducting polymers, molecular electronics, organic second- and third-order nonlinear optical materials, and lanthanide complexes for magnetic resonance imaging.

Professor Tobin J. Marks is Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Center, Northwestern University. He obtained his PhD from MIT (USA). Professor Marks has received 58 named lectureships and awards, including the ACS Awards in Polymeric Materials, in Organometallic Chemistry and in Inorganic Chemistry, in the Chemistry of Materials, the Cotton Medal, the Linus Pauling Medal, the Karl Ziegler Medal of the German Chemical Society and the Frankland Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Professor Marks has published over 770 research articles and holds 70 patents. He is also on the editorial boards of 9 major journals and is consultant or advisory board member for 5 corporations and start-ups. His current research interests include electronic and photonic materials, CVD, homogeneous catalysis, organometallic chemistry, mind-boggling catalytic transformations, and metal ion biochemistry.