Fabrication and characterization of flexible hybrid transparent electrodes with broadband transparency

In this study, indium-zinc oxide (IZO)/silver (Ag)/IZO (ZAZ) flexible transparent electrodes were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate substrate using radio frequency sputtering technique. Experimental results showed that when the Ag film transited from semi-continuous state to continuous state, the ZAZ electrode exhibited high optoelectronic performance. The best ZAZ sample had a quite wide range of high transmittance and an average transmittance of 78.9% in visible light region, and sheet resistance of $6.54\mathrm{\Omega }$/sq and a Haacke Index of ${\mathrm{\Phi }}_{\mathrm{\text{vis}}}=14.41\times 10^{-3}{\mathrm{\Omega }}^{-1}$. The bending test revealed that the $R_c$ (change in sheet resistance) of ZAZ electrodes after 1000 bends was still less than 25% while the electrical properties of IZO films deteriorated after only 100 bending tests.