New flexible films for touch screen applications achieve longer lasting display
Today, touch screens are everywhere, from smart phones and tablets, to computer monitors, to interactive digital signage and displays. Many touch screens are made of layered thin (billionths of a meter thick) films of indium-tin oxide, an inorganic material that is electrically conductive, which allows electrical signals to travel from the "touch" to the edges of the display, where they are sensed by the device--as well as optically transparent. But these and other inorganic materials have a downside, as anyone who has ever dropped their smart phone knows: they are brittle and shatter easily. The solution? Make the screens flexible and durable without sacrificing any of their electrical or optical properties. Researchers have now created thin sheets of hybrid materials that may enable the next generation of consumer electronics.