The transparent electrode characteristics of the SnO₂/AgNi/SnO₂ (OMO) multilayer structures prepared by sputtering were investigated according to the annealing temperature. Ni-doped Ag of various compositions was selected as the metal layer and heat treatment was performed at 100~300℃ to evaluate the thermal stability of the metals. The manufactured OMO multilayer structures were heat treated for 6 hours at 400~600℃ in an N₂ atmosphere. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the OMO structures before and after annealing were evaluated and analyzed using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer, 4-point probe, XPS, FE-SEM, etc. OMO with Ni-doped Ag shows improved performance due to the reduction of structural defects of Ag during annealing, but OMO structure with pure Ag shows degradation characteristics due to Ag diffusion into the oxide layer during high-temperature annealing. The figure of merit (FOM) of SnO₂/Ag/SnO₂ was highest at room temperature and gradually decreased as the heat treatment temperature increased. On the other hand, the FOM value of SnO₂/AgNi/SnO₂ mostly showed its maximum value at high temperature(~550℃). In particular, the FOM value of SnO₂/Ag-Ni (3.2 at%)/SnO₂ was estimated to be approximately 2.38×10^-2 Ω^-1. Compared to transparent electrodes made of other similar materials, the FOM value of the SnO₂/Ag-Ni (3.2 at%)/SnO₂ multilayer structure is competitive and is expected to be used as an alternative transparent conductive electrode in various devices.

In this study, composite transparent electrodes were fabricated either from a conductive polymer poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) or silver nanowire (AgNW). Three transparent electrodes such as PEDOT:PSS, PEDOT:PSS and AgNW mixture, and AgNW were fabricated. As for a transparent electrode, measured sheet resistance values were 89.6, 60.6 and 28.6 Ω/sq, and the transmittance values were 80.2, 82.0 and 83.8% while surface roughness (Rq) values were 4.1, 8.1, 20.4 nm for PEDOT:PSS, PEDOT:PSS and AgNW mixture, and AgNW, respectively. To verify the overall performance of these composite electrodes, we applied these electrodes to the top electrode of the solution-processed organic solar cells (OSCs). PEDOT:PSS provided the best performance with a fill factor (FF) of 51.2% and a photoconversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.2%, while traditional metal top electrode OSC provided FF of 60.5% and PCE of 3.1%.

In this study, oxide/metal/oxide-type transparent electrodes based on Al and ZnO were investigated. Thin films of these materials were sputter-deposited at room temperature. To evaluate the thickness dependence of the oxide layers, the top and bottom ZnO layers were varied in the range of 5~80 nm and 2.5~20 nm, respectively. When the thicknesses of the top and bottom ZnO layers were fixed at 30 nm and 2.5 nm, a maximum transmitance of 66% and sheet resistance of 16.5 Ω/□ were achieved, which is significantly improved compared with the Al layer without top and bottom ZnO layers showing a maximum transmitance of 44.3% and sheet resistance of 44 Ω/□.

The proposed stretchable transparent electrodes based on silver nanowires (AgNWs) were prepared on a polyurethane (PU) substrate. In order toavoid the surface roughness caused by the silver nanowires, a titanium oxide (TiO₂) buffer layer was addedby coating and heating the organometallic sol-gel solution. The fabricated stretchable electrodes showedan electrical sheet resistance of 24 Ωsq^-1, 78% transmittance at 550 nm, and an average surface roughness below 5 nm. Furthermore, the AgNW-based electrode maintained its initial electrical resistance under 130% strain testing conditions, without the assistance of additional conductive polymer layers. In this paper, the critical role of the TiO₂ buffer layer between the AgNW network and the PU substrate has been discussed.

A hybrid transparent electrode was fabricated with graphene and silver nanowires (Ag NWs). Three different processes were used to fabricate the hybrid electrode. Measurements of the sheet resistances, transmittances, and surface roughnesses of the hybrid electrodes were used to identify the optimal fabrication process. The surface roughness of the hybrid electrodes with Ag NWs embedded in a transparent polymer matrix was significantly lower than that of the other hybrid electrodes. A hybrid electrode fabricated by transferring graphene onto Ag NWs after spin-coating the Ag NWs onto the substrate showed the lowest sheet resistance. The transmittance of the hybrid electrodes was comparable to that of Ag NW electrodes.

The Gallium-doped ZnO(GZO) film deposited at a temperature of 200℃ and a pressure of 10 mtorr has an optical transmittance of 89.0% and a resistivity of 2.0 mΩ·cm because of its high crystallinity. Effect of Al2O3 oxide buffer layers on the optical and electrical properties of sputtered ZnO films were intensively investigated for developing the electrodes of opto-electronic devices which demanded high optical transmittance and low resistivity. The use of Al2O3 buffer layer could increase optical transmittance of GZO film to 90.7% at a wavelength of 550 nm by controlling optical spectrum. Resistivity of deposited GZO films were much dependent on the deposition condition of O2/(Ar+O2) flow rate ratio during the buffer layer deposition. It is considered that the Al2O3 buffer layer could increase the carrier concentration of the GZO films by doping effect of diffused Al atoms through the rough interface.

The TiO2/ZnS/Ag/ZnS/TiO2 multilayered structure for the transparent electrodes in plasma display panel was designed by essential macleod program (EMP) and the multilayered film was deposited on a glass substrate by direct-current (DC)/radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system. During film deposition process, the Ag layer in TiO2/Ag/TiO2 structure became oxidized and the filter characteristic was degraded easily. In this study, ZnS layer was adopted as a diffusion blocking layer between TiO2 and Ag to prevent the oxidation of Ag layer efficiently in TiO2/ZnS/Ag/ZnS/TiO2 structure. Based on the AES depth profiling analysis, the Ag layer was effectively protected by the ZnS layer as compared with the TiO2/Ag/TiO2 multilayered films without ZnS as an antioxidant layer. The 3 times stacked TiO2/ZnS/Ag/ZnS/TiO2 films have low sheet resistance of 1.22 Ω/□ and luminous transmittance was as high as 62% in the visible ranges.