1. A transparent conductive oxide (TCO) material comprising a metal-rich metal oxide having an average formula (M1, M2 . . . Mn)yOx where M1, M2 and Mn are the same metal or different metals and a molar ratio of y:x is selected from a range of 0.1 to 20.
2. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the molar ratio of y:x is greater than 1.
3. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein at least two of M1, M2 and Mn are the same metal.
4. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein at least two of M1, M2 and Mn are different metals.
5. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of ZnyOx, CdyOx, SnyOx, InyOx, TayOx, indium doped tin oxide (ITO), fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), copper doped tin oxide, iron doped tin oxide, manganese doped tin oxide, cadmium doped tin oxide, antimony doped tin oxide, chlorine doped tin oxide, zinc doped tin oxide, aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), gallium doped zinc oxide (GZO), indium doped zinc oxide, boron doped zinc oxide, flourine doped zinc oxide, tin doped indium oxide, molybdenum doped indium oxide, and combinations thereof.
6. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the material is a nanostructured material.
7. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the material comprises nano-needles.
8. The TCO material of claim 7, wherein the nano-needles have a length selected from the range of 20 nm to 5000 nm and a width selected from 5 nm to 1000 nm.
9. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the material comprises metallic plasmonic nanostructures.
10. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein a difference in index of refraction between the metal-rich metal oxide and air is selected from a range of 0.1 to 5.
11. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein reflectivity of the metal-rich metal oxide is less than or equal to 15% in a wavelength range that at least covers 520 nm to 800 nm.
12. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the metal-rich metal oxide comprises a combination of amorphous and crystalline regionsdomains.
13. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the metal-rich metal oxide is a Sn-rich SnO.
14. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the metal-rich metal oxide has a light trapping capability at least 5% greater than indium doped tin oxide.
15. The TCO material of claim 1, wherein the electrical conductivity of the crystallized nanostructures is 104 Scm.
16. A method of making a metal-rich metal oxide material comprising the steps of:
co-depositing a metal and a stoichiometric metal oxide; and
annealing the deposited material above 100\xb0 C.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the metal is Sn and the stoichiometric metal oxide is SnO2.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of depositing occurs at a deposition rate selected from a range of 0.1 \u212bmin to 10 nms to thicknesses between 3 \u212b and 5 \u03bcm.
19. The method of claim 16, further comprising a patterning step comprising applying energy to a confined area of a metal-rich metal oxide film to isolate regions of crystal growth.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of applying energy comprises laser annealing, rapid thermal annealing, or application of an electrical voltage bias across the sample.
21. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of annealing includes providing an atmospheric gas selected to independently provide n-type conductivity or p-type conductivity.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the atmospheric gas is N2, Ar, H2 or any combination thereof and the metal-rich metal oxide material exhibits n-type conductivity.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein the atmospheric gas is air and the metal-rich metal oxide material exhibits p-type conductivity.
24. A thin-film solar cell, comprising:
an electrode;
a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) disposed on the electrode;
a solar absorbing layer disposed on the TCO; and
a metal-rich metal oxide, having an average formula (M1, M2 . . . Mn)yOx where M1, M2 and Mn are the same metal or different metals and a molar ratio of y:x is selected from a range of 0.1 to 20, disposed on the solar absorbing layer.
25. A method of fabricating a thin-film solar cell, comprising the steps of:
providing an electrode;
depositing a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) on the electrode;
applying a solar absorbing layer on the TCO; and
providing a metal-rich metal oxide, having an average formula (M1, M2 . . . Mn)yOx where M1, M2 and Mn are the same metal or different metals and a molar ratio of y:x is selected from a range of 0.1 to 20, on the solar absorbing layer.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A drive device of a liquid droplet discharge head comprising a piezoelectric vibrator which discharges liquid droplets from a discharge section by applying a predetermined drive waveform to said piezoelectric vibrator, wherein
a drive control unit is provided that drives said piezoelectric vibrator according to said drive waveform composed of a curved shape, and
said drive waveform is free of sharp edges.
2. A drive device of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 1, wherein said drive waveform is generated by being converted from a rectangular or trapezoidal square wave by a waveform conversion unit.
3. A drive device of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 1, wherein said drive waveform contains a discharge waveform for discharging said liquid droplets, and a microvibration waveform that minutely vibrates said piezoelectric vibrator to a degree that it does not discharge said liquid droplets.
4. A film manufacturing apparatus provided with a drive device of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 1 that performs film manufacturing treatment at a predetermined location on a treated object by discharging a functional liquid from said liquid droplet discharge head.
5. A film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said film manufacturing apparatus is a device that produces a color filter.
6. A film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said film manufacturing apparatus is a device that forms a film having for its constituent element an organic electroluminescence element.
7. A film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, said film manufacturing apparatus is a device that discharges a liquid containing metallic fine particles from said liquid droplet discharge head, and which forms a film to serve as metal wiring by discharging said liquid onto a desired surface.
8. A drive method of a liquid droplet discharge head comprising discharging of liquid droplets from a discharge section by extending and retracting a piezoelectric vibrator according to a predetermined drive waveform, wherein
said method has a process of driving said piezoelectric vibrator according to said drive waveform composed of a curved waveform, and
said drive waveform is free of sharp edges.
9. A drive method of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 8, wherein said drive waveform is generated based on a rectangular or trapezoidal square wave.
10. A drive method of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 8, wherein said drive waveform contains a discharge waveform for discharging said liquid droplets, and a microvibration waveform that minutely vibrates said piezoelectric vibrator to a degree that it does not discharge said liquid droplets.
11. A film manufacturing method that forms a film using the drive method of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 8.
12. A film manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein, said film manufacturing method is used when forming a film to serve as a constituent element of a color filter.
13. A film manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein, said film manufacturing method is used when forming a film serving as constituent element of an organic electroluminescence element.
14. A film manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein, said film manufacturing method forms a film to serve as metal wiring by discharging a liquid containing metallic fine particles from said liquid droplet discharge head onto a desired surface.
15. A device production method for producing a device by coating a functional liquid at a predetermined location on a substrate, wherein a step is contained in which the functional liquid is discharged at a predetermined location of said substrate from said liquid droplet discharge head using a drive method of a liquid droplet discharge head according to claim 8.