SrNbO3 as Transparent Conductor in the Visible and UV

It has been a long-standing challenge to find a material that combines the mutually exclusive properties of high electrical conductivity and high optical transmission in the visible, and even harder, in the ultraviolet spectrum. A new class of transparent conductors – correlated metals – was recently discovered and found suitable.

See AAAS press release.

It has been a long-standing challenge to find a material that combines the mutually exclusive properties of high electrical conductivity and high optical transmission in the visible, and even harder, in the ultraviolet spectrum. 

A new class of transparent conductors – correlated metals – was recently discovered and found suitable. They are based on complex oxides with perovskite structure. Although exploring the chemical composition to find the highest performance candidate is a formidable task, it is ideally suited to apply MGI philosophy by first identifying theoretical material descriptors and to then systematically search the vast materials configuration space. 

Using theory-guided principles a new composition of perovskite oxide was identified, which was experimentally confirmed to have metallic-like electrical conductivity and excellent optical transparency in the visible and down to a wavelength of 260 nm, i.e. deep into the ultraviolet spectrum.

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)