In this study, transparent thin films of ZnO/Ag/ZnO were deposited on Corning glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, and the effect of different annealing temperatures on the transmittance, electrical, and crystalline properties of the grown films was investigated. The results showed that the multilayered films exhibited a transmittance of approximately 80% at an annealing temperature of 300 °C. The resistivity (3.95 × 10 −5 Ω-cm) was also the lowest at 450 °C, the mobility was 14.7 cm 2 /V-s, and the carrier concentration was 5.75 × 10 21 cm −3. The experiments showed that as the annealing temperature was raised, the transmittance increased up to 450 °C. After this, the transmittance decreased. However, resistivity continued to drop with further increase in temperature, accompanied by an increase in crystal grain size.

This study was aimed at developing a metal-transfer technique to fabricate micro/nano metal patterns by using the adhesion force between metal layers and polymer surfaces. The force was generated by partial curing on a UV-curable polymer surface. This polymer contained glycido methacrylate, polyurethane diacrylate (PU-2) and O 2-sensitive initiators, and was polymerized by covering it with an O 2-permeable film under UV irradiation. Another UV-curable polymer, containing isobonyl acrylate, hexa-acrylated PU (PU-6) and O 2-insensitive initiators, was utilized as the master mold. A layer of gold, pre-coated on the mold, was adhered to the partially cured intermediate layer, transferring gold patterns onto the intermediate layer. A scanning electron microscope, an optical microscope and atomic force microscopy were used to inspect the transferred yield and morphology of the gold patterns. A force-distance evaluation was also carried out to explore the adhesion force of the surfaces. The results show that the partially cured polymer can maintain the morphology of the pattern after a short period of irradiation and still displays its adhesive property on its surfaces. Instead of using the traditional photolithography and the lift-off process, the technique was performed to fabricate some complex patterns having micro and nano features, and interdigital electrodes, giving the potential for direct printing of microelectrodes and flexible circuits.

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