At the Vanguard of
Transparent Silver Alloy Materials

Beyond the limits of nature

Silver is the most electrically conductive metal on the periodic table. In its bulk state it is fully opaque, but it becomes optically transparent when very thin (~10 nm) while still preserving good electrical properties. The optical properties for thin layers of silver are predominantly determined by its complex index of refraction, interfacial quality and layer thickness. While the complex index of refraction is essentially material dependent and the layer thickness is set based on the market application, the interfacial quality of the silver layer is profoundly impacted by how the silver is synthesized, i.e., the better the interfacial quality, the better the optical/electrical properties.
Industrially, silver is typically synthesized using a layer deposition process called magnetron sputtering, which is a type of Physical Vapor Deposition. The way it works is that material from a solid source is physically ejected (i.e., sputtered) and the vapor is transported through the gas phase, where it condenses upon a surface (referred to as substrate) to form a thin film. During the condensation process, the flux of atoms (and molecules) from the vapor to the solid substrate surface is typically multiple orders of magnitude larger than the flux of material returning from the substrate surface to the vapor phase. This flux anisotropy (also known as high supersaturation at the vapor/solid interface) leads to an excess of atoms on the substrate, so that atoms do not have sufficient time to self-assemble in minimum-energy configurations predicted by thermodynamics. It is then said the film formation proceeds far from thermodynamic equilibrium and the resulting film morphology is determined by the occurrence rates (i.e., kinetics) of atomic-scale structure-forming mechanisms.

Industrially, silver is typically synthesized using a layer deposition process called magnetron sputtering, which is a type of Physical Vapor Deposition. The way it works is that material from a solid source is physically ejected (i.e., sputtered) and the vapor is transported through the gas phase, where it condenses upon a surface (referred to as substrate) to form a thin film. During the condensation process, the flux of atoms (and molecules) from the vapor to the solid substrate surface is typically multiple orders of magnitude larger than the flux of material returning from the substrate surface to the vapor phase. This flux anisotropy (also known as high supersaturation at the vapor/solid interface) leads to an excess of atoms on the substrate, so that atoms do not have sufficient time to self-assemble in minimum-energy configurations predicted by thermodynamics. It is then said the film formation proceeds far from thermodynamic equilibrium and the resulting film morphology is determined by the occurrence rates (i.e., kinetics) of atomic-scale structure-forming mechanisms.

Due to a complex interplay between thermodynamics and kinetics, the silver layer morphology lacks key attributes to enable its full potential. As a remedy, commercial actors —e.g., the coated glass industry—have utilized a seed layer (e.g., zinc oxide) to grow silver upon. The seed layer surface substantially improves the wettability and texturing of silver, thereby improving its optical and electrical properties. However, ever since the seed layer advent nearly 20 years ago, the industry has failed to reach a similar step change in silver layer improvement.

At MIMSI Materials, we’ve developed a new class of transparent precision silver alloys that achieve the breakthrough in performance that the industry has been seeking. By strategically introducing alloying agent(s) to the material, MIMSI has created a new way to beneficially influence the silver growth. The resulting silver film morphology yields superior optical and electrical properties; also, by inherently being an alloy, the mechanical and chemical properties are also significantly improved.

Due to a complex interplay between thermodynamics and kinetics, the silver layer morphology lacks key attributes to enable its full potential. As a remedy, commercial actors —e.g., the coated glass industry—have utilized a seed layer (e.g., zinc oxide) to grow silver upon. The seed layer surface substantially improves the wettability and texturing of silver, thereby improving its optical and electrical properties. However, ever since the seed layer advent nearly 20 years ago, the industry has failed to reach a similar step change in silver layer improvement.

At MIMSI Materials, we’ve developed a new class of transparent precision silver alloys that achieve the breakthrough in performance that the industry has been seeking. By strategically introducing alloying agent(s) to the material, MIMSI has created a new way to beneficially influence the silver growth. The resulting silver film morphology yields superior optical and electrical properties; also, by inherently being an alloy, the mechanical and chemical properties are also significantly improved.