Researchers at Purdue University and Northwest University have developed a flexible and transparent transistor using a combination of zinc-oxide and indium-oxide nanowires. These invisible and bendable transistors actually preform better than conventional transistors, and can be easily built onto sheets of flexible plastic.
Their work also revealed a promising new development in the control of OLED's. They found that when conformist nontransparent transistor circuitry is placed around the OLED, it could be inadvertently be emitting its own light. But these transparent transistors can actually be placed beneath the crest of the OLED. This would help to obscure the already invisible transistor, but making its light source a part of the OLED's light source. The transistor would control the OLED as well. There is also the added benefit of less space used, bringing the hope of a higher resolution display with a small dot pitch.
In building these invisible transistors, Janes and his colleagues began by depositing indium-zinc-oxide onto glass or plastic, then applied a nanowire solution. Then, when they found the appropriate nanowire for the application, they applied a source and drain electrode to the nanowire. These source and drain electrodes helped to lock the nanowire in place and complete the electrical circuit. It should be noted that the indium-zinc-oxide and indium-tin-oxide that were used to create the source and drain electrodes are both transparent.
