Direct indium tin oxide patterning using thermal nanoimprint lithography for highly efficient optoelectronic devices

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is the most commonly used transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material on account of its high conductivity and transmittance in a visible range. In order to improve the efficiency of optoelectronic devices using TCO materials, the transmittance and conductivity of the TCO layers need to be improved. Recently, various techniques, which use nanostructures on the surface to improve the transmittance, have attracted considerable attention. In this study, a direct ITO nanopatterning technique using thermal nanoimprint lithography was presented. An ITO nanoparticle solution is used as an imprint resin and postimprint annealing process was followed. The optical transmittance of the ITO glass was increased by forming periodic ITO dot patterns on the ITO glass. UV-visible near infrared spectra showed that the transmittance at 485 nm of the ITO glass with the directly patterned ITO layer was 5% higher than that of ordinary ITO glass.