Researchers Create Transparent Transistors

Using nanotechnology, a team of researchers has created transparent transistors and circuits that can pave the way to e-paper, smart cards and flexible color screens for consumer electronics. The transistors are made of transparent nanowires attached to a clear glass or plastic substrate. Other researchers had previously created nanowire transistors, but the metal electrodes in the transistors were non-transparent, which made the overall structure opaque. "Our study demonstrates that nanowire electronics can be fully transparent, as well as flexible, while maintaining high performance levels," Tobin J. Marks, the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Chemistry and a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, said in a statement. "This opens the door to entirely new technologies for high-performance transparent flexible displays." Researchers said the technology can be used in transparent displays on windshields or goggles, which can show information without obstructing the driver's or wearer's vision, as well as in e-paper or other flexible displays like smart cards. The new nanowire transistors could also help the advancement of OLED displays. The study was published this month in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.