Low‐Cost and Scalable Liquid Metal Printing to Quickly Fabricate High Transparency Ga‐Doped ITO Films

Abstract Transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, particularly indium tin oxide (ITO) films, are essential in a wide range of optoelectronic applications. However, conventional methods for fabricating and doping ITO films face significant challenges, including high temperatures, vacuum requirements, complex procedures, and high costs. Here a low‐temperature, one‐step liquid gallium–indium–tin printing technique is presented to fabricate Ga‐doped ITO nanofilms. According to needs, In–Sn alloys with varying Sn content can be synthesized and subsequently doped with Ga to form Ga–In–Sn alloys, which then allows printing onto target substrates. Comprehensive characterization reveals that the printed Ga‐doped ITO films exhibit exceptional performances. Specifically, the bandgap of films increases with Ga doping, even reaching 4.81 eV. The transmittance of 1 at.% Ga‐doped ITO films in the visible spectrum exceed 99.82%. While Ga doping increases the resistance of the films, repetitive multilayer printing effectively mitigates this issue. Furthermore, the printed Ga‐doped ITO films embedded into the LED circuit exhibit excellent conductivity. Notably, the films on flexible substrates retain their conductivity even after bending, highlighting their potential for flexible electronics. This liquid metal printing method offers a cost‐effective and efficient alternative to traditional ITO fabrication, with significant promises for future large‐scale optoelectronic device production.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials Technologies
Published
2025-05-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202500136
Citations
3
Primary Topic
ZnO doping and properties
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.55

Funders

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article

Low‐Cost and Scalable Liquid Metal Printing to Quickly Fabricate High Transparency Ga‐Doped ITO Films

X. Y. Chen, Qian Li, Qi Zhang, Jing Liu et al.
3 citations
Advanced Materials Technologies
ZnO doping and properties
1.55
article

Low‐Cost and Scalable Liquid Metal Printing to Quickly Fabricate High Transparency Ga‐Doped ITO Films

X. Y. Chen, Qian Li, Qi Zhang, Jing Liu, Rui Li, Ju Wang, Yujia Song
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Abstract Transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, particularly indium tin oxide (ITO) films, are essential in a wide range of optoelectronic applications. However, conventional methods for fabricating and doping ITO films face significant challenges, including high temperatures, vacuum requirements, complex procedures, and high costs. Here a low‐temperature, one‐step liquid gallium–indium–tin printing technique is presented to fabricate Ga‐doped ITO nanofilms. According to needs, In–Sn alloys with varying Sn content can be synthesized and subsequently doped with Ga to form Ga–In–Sn alloys, which then allows printing onto target substrates. Comprehensive characterization reveals that the printed Ga‐doped ITO films exhibit exceptional performances. Specifically, the bandgap of films increases with Ga doping, even reaching 4.81 eV. The transmittance of 1 at.% Ga‐doped ITO films in the visible spectrum exceed 99.82%. While Ga doping increases the resistance of the films, repetitive multilayer printing effectively mitigates this issue. Furthermore, the printed Ga‐doped ITO films embedded into the LED circuit exhibit excellent conductivity. Notably, the films on flexible substrates retain their conductivity even after bending, highlighting their potential for flexible electronics. This liquid metal printing method offers a cost‐effective and efficient alternative to traditional ITO fabrication, with significant promises for future large‐scale optoelectronic device production.

Advanced Materials TechnologiesVol. 10(17)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
ZnO doping and properties
1.55
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