Contact resistivity of metallized tin oxide surfaces

The dynamic performance of large-area, high-resolution flat panels is conti ngent upon the conductivity of the transparent electrodes. Aluminum bus bar s vacuum deposited onto the sidewalls of conventional SnO2 electrodes provi de a theoretical order-of-magnitude improvement in conductivity while maint aining the electrode transmittivity. A method for attaching aluminum bus ba rs by means of anisotropic reactive ion etching coupled with a resist lift- off process is described. Contact resistance between the aluminum and the t in oxide is found to reduce the enhancement factor to the range 2-3. The si dewall contact resistance lies between 0.4 x 10(4) Ohm mu m(2) and 4.0 x 10 (4) mu m(2). This resistance was found to be considerably lower than that f or contacts to the tin oxide top surface where an interlayer of gold was ne cessary to reduce the initial contact resistance from, typically, 3.5 x 10( 7) to 5.0 X 10(4) Ohm mu m(2). (C) 2000 The Electrochemical Society. S0013- 4651(99)03-130-4. All rights reserved.