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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Thin Film Metal Oxides for Displays and Other Optoelectronic Applications

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Thin films of metal oxides have been extensively studied for various applications because of their durability, lower cost and lower toxicity, excellent chemical, magnetic, electrical and optical properties. A fusion of electrical and optical properties led to the growth of optoelectronic devices for a variety of applications including displays, light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic cells, photodetectors, optical storage, medicine, and so on. Optoelectronic devices have revolutionized our daily lives with their potentials in various aspects. An extensive research on materials for these devices has to be credited for the improvement in their performance over the years. Several metal oxide thin films have been developed over the decades, and their optical, electrical, mechanical properties have been studied to determine the suitability for advanced optoelectronic devices. Several fabrication techniques employed over the decades helped to improve the quality of the fabricated thin films which is quite critical for the device performance. In this chapter, we give an overview of metal oxide semiconductors, several optoelectronic properties, and various optoelectronic applications based on metal oxide semiconducting thin films. More focus has been given on display applications and its related metal oxide materials. In addition, brief summary of other optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), solar cells, ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors, gas sensors, and heat mirrors has been given. Each application is explained along with its working principle and the material widely used for such applications. Various thin film fabrication techniques are discussed, and the fabrication procedure of a metal oxide thin film is highlighted for each technique.