Communications of the ACM
Nanowalls For Smartphones
Scientists can create a grid of ultra fine gold walls with a special mode of electrohydrodynamic ink-jet printing.
Credit: Ben Newton/Digit Works
Researchers at ETH Zurich have used three-dimensional print technology to create a transparent electrode that takes the form of a grid made of gold or silver "nanowalls" on a glass surface. The walls are so thin they can hardly be seen with the naked eye.
The team reports the new electrodes have a higher conductivity and are more transparent than those made of indium tin oxide, the standard material used in smartphones and tablets today. The advantage is that the more transparent the electrodes, the better the screen quality, and the more conductive they are, the more quickly and precisely the touchscreen will work.
The researchers used metal walls only 80 to 500 nanometers thick, which are almost invisible when viewed from overhead. Because they are two to four times taller than they are wide, the cross-sectional area, and thus the conductivity, is sufficiently high.
The ETH Zurich researchers developed the novel nanoprinting process, called Nanodrip, three years ago, and the basic principle is a process called electrohydrodynamic ink-jet printing, which relies on inks made from metal nanoparticles in a solvent. An electrical field draws ultra-small droplets of the metallic ink out of a glass capillary. The solvent evaporates quickly, enabling a three-dimensional structure to be built up drop by drop.
From ETH Zurich
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