Liquid Based Films

• US 20130309613A1
• Filed: 05/13/2013
• Published: 11/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Corning Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Corning Incorporated
• Inventors: O'Malley, Shawn Michael, Schneider, Vitor Marino
• Application Number:
  US13/892,536
• Publication Number:
  US 20130309613A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 430/319
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/1884 Manufacture of transparent electrodes, e.g. TCO, ITO
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Abstract

Inorganic films made by providing a solution comprising a metallic salt, an organo-metallic compound, or combinations thereof in a polar aprotic solvent, depositing the solution onto a substrate to form a coating on the substrate, and annealing the coating.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a solution comprising a metallic salt, an organo-metallic compound, or combinations thereof in a polar aprotic solvent;

depositing the solution onto a substrate to form a coating on the substrate; and

annealing the coating.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic salt comprises ions of zinc, tin, aluminum, indium, iron, or combinations thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metallic salt comprises ions of tungsten, titanium, zirconium, silicon, silicon nitride, boron, boron nitride, copper, silver, rare earth ions, or combinations thereof.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the organo-metallic compound comprises ions of zinc, tin, aluminum, indium, or combinations thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the organo-metallic compound comprises ions of tungsten, titanium, zirconium, silicon, silicon nitride, boron, boron nitride, copper, silver, rare earth ions, or combinations thereof.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the polar aprotic solvent comprises a pH modifier.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the pH modifier is selected from nitric acid, acetic acid, hydrofluoric acid, and combinations thereof.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the solvent comprises dimethylformamide, n-methylpyrrolidone, or a combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising crystallizing the coating after the annealing.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the crystallizing comprises crystallizing the annealed coating at a temperature in the range of from 300 to 600°

C.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the crystallization comprises crystallizing the annealed coating in a controlled environment comprising air, Nitrogen, CO, CO₂, NOX, Xenon, Argon, Oxygen or a combination thereof.

12. The method according to claim 1, comprising alternatingly repeating the depositing and annealing to form multiple coatings on the substrate.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising adding semiconductor nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, or a combination thereof in dimethylformamide, n-methyl pyrrolidone, or a combination thereof to the solution prior to the depositing.

14. The method according to claim 13, comprising nanostructures of graphene, carbon, silver, gold, platinum, metallic, or combinations thereof.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the nanostructures are in the form of nanotubes, nanowires, nanodots, nanoparticles or combinations thereof.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the depositing comprises spin-coating, dip-coating, spray-coating, tape-casting, ink jet, misting, stamping, or washing the substrate in the solution.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing comprises mixing zinc acetate dehydrate in dimethylformamide to form a first solution;

separately mixing aluminum nitrate in dimethylformamide to form a second solution; and

mixing the first and second solution to a desired atom concentration of Al and Zn.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the annealing comprises sintering the coating at a temperature in the range of from 300 to 600°

C.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the depositing is done in a continuous process.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the annealing is done in a continuous process.

21. The method according to claim 1, further comprising depositing another film adjacent to the coating.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the depositing comprises depositing in a patterning or in descrete regions.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the depositing is done by photolithography, masks, silk screening, molds, or combinations thereof.

24. A method comprising:

providing a solution comprising doped zinc or aluminum in a polar aprotic solvent;

depositing the solution onto a substrate to form a coating on the substrate; and

annealing the coating.