The industry's first*1 “unique roll-to-roll construction method” used in double-sided full wiring metal mesh

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Trademark Registration Number
6683821,6683822

- Transparent Conductive Film FineX -

*1 Panasonic data as of February 16, 2022

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Double-sided full wiring Metal Mesh Transparent Conductive Film  Recommendation 

For those customers looking for transparent conductive film for various kinds of applications such as touch sensors

Characteristics of Transparent Conductive Films

Transparent conductive films have the function of transmitting both electricity and visible light.  ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) has been widely used as a transparent electrode for various applications, such as touch displays or solar battery cells.

ITO generally having a resistance of 10s or 100s Ω/sq., in order to meet the demand for lower resistance required in recent years ITO has to be applied thickly, however that causes problems like transmissivity loss or color change (yellowing).

To solve these problems, metal mesh has been developed as an alternative of ITO.

002_Characteristics of Transparent Conductive Films_

Conventional Etching Type Metal Mesh

Etching method is generally used to produce metal meshes, but there is a trade-off between lower resistance and finer wiring lines. When large size is required, transmissivity is sacrificed by the increased line width in order to lower the resistance.

In addition, metal remainder at the cross point, which tends to happen in the metal mesh produced by etching process, causes deterioration of appearance.

Conventional Etching Type Metal Mesh

Industry’s First*1 Unique Roll to Roll Process

Panasonic has developed a double-sided full wiring metal mesh using industry’s first*1 unique roll-to-roll process to achieve high wiring aspect ratio, realizing low resistance and high transmissivity at the same time.

*1 Panasonic data as of February 16, 2022
Industry’s First Unique Roll to Roll Process

Wiring with High Aspect Ratio

As shown below, resistance value is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area of the wire. Therefore, the cross-sectional area must be increased to keep the resistance value low.

 resistance value is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area of the wire

Panasonic’s metal mesh produced by its unique process has high aspect ratio wiring lines by gaining a cross-sectional area to depth direction while keeping the fine line width, achiving low resistance and excellent transmissivity at the same time.

Wiring with High Aspect Ratio

Wire thinning and Aperture Ratio

Wire thinning greatly contributes to the aperture ratio.
Since a metal blocks light, the narrower the metal wiring line width is, the greater the aperture ratio becomes.
Aperture ratio is proportional to the transmissivity, therefore Panasonic’s metal mesh films can achieve high transmissivity.

Wire thinning and Aperture Ratio

Visibility of Wiring Lines

Metal wiring lines are visible due to metal reflection if the line width is not thin enough.
In Panasonic’s metal mesh, wiring line width is 2 um or less so mesh pattern is invisible to human eyes.

Visibility of Wiring Lines

Touch Sensor Application

Panasonic’s metal mesh based transparent conductive film has both low resistance and high transmissivity at the same time.
When used for touch sensors, it will realize customer’s various needs / wants, which could not be realized by conventional transparent conductive films.

Touch Sensor Application

Value for Touch Sensor Application

Large Size Display
Narrow Frame Design
Curved Design
High Image Quality
High Sensitivity
Items Conventional etching process
Metal mesh *
Panasonic’s unique process
Metal mesh *
Visibility Wiring Line Width × 4 um ≦ 2 um
Transmissivity 90.3% 94.1%
Sheet Resistance
2 ohms/sq. 2 ohms/sq.
Frame Wiring (L/S) 15/15 um 8/8 um
Base material PET and COP PET, PC and COP
Bendability ≧ R2 mm ≧ R2 mm

* Comparison between our own prototypes

Transparent Conductive Film Application -1
High Frequency Tele-Communication

High speed, large capacity, multi-connection and low latency 5G/6G tele-communication uses high frequency bands.
In general, higher frequencies cause issues such as deterioration of radio wave signals due to the influence of various substances, or waves not reaching far enough especially in a city area dense with buildings due to its straight propagation characteristics.
Panasonic will apply its transparent conductive film technology to provide new solutions to these issues.

➀ Transparent Antenna

Since 5G/6G tele-communication uses high frequency bands, it is strongly affected by various substances and devices nearby.
Therefore, the placement of 5G/6G antennas is less flexible, and ideally they should be placed on the top surface of devices.
Transparent antennas, utilizing Panasonic’s transparent conductive film technology, can be placed anywhere without disturbing the design and function of displays, windows etc.

Features

  • Maintaining transparency while ensuring good antenna performance
  • Millimeter-wave compatible (low loss) with low resistance wiring
  • Can be positioned without obstructing functionality or aesthetics on display/window,etc.
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Transparent pattern using fine wire mesh that achieves performance equivalent to a metal antenna

Application

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② Meta-surface

High frequency radio waves propagates in a straight line, so radio waves cannot reach in long distance, especially in the areas where buildings are densely concentrated.
For this reason, there is a need for metasurface devices, such as reflectors that propagate radio waves in far distance, and lenses that draw radio waves into the room.
Panasonic contributes to 5G/6G world by applying its transparent conductive film to metasurface technology.

Meta-surface

Transparent Conductive Film Application -2
Transparent Display

In current highly advanced information society, AR (Augmented Reality) has been adopted in various scenes including in-vehicles.
For further penetration of AR, transparent displays are expected to be commercialized that can show sufficient amount of information without obstructing the viewing area.
Applying Panasonic‘s transparent conductive film technology to the backplane of transparent display enables clear display of information while keeping high transmissivity.

Features

  • Achieving high transmittance while maintaining low resistance through high wire aspect ratio
  • Implementation onto transparent films is possible using low-temperature soldering
  • Combining micro-LEDs with our miniaturization patterns enables the realization of self-emitting transparent display

 

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Application

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Transparent Conductive Film Application -3
Transparent Heater

Along with the practical application of autonomous driving, various cameras and sensors are newly equipped on the exterior of vehicles. In order to prevent false detection caused by fogging or freezing, transparent heaters that do not interfere with the sensing function are required.
Panasonic applies transparent conductive film technology to a transparent heater to realize a highly stable sensing environment.
Transparent film heater can be also placed on the lens of surveillance cameras, which have been rapidly installed in recent years, to ensure stable function.

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Conventional
Lacks efficiency due to heating through air
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Our company’s technologh​
Efficient due to direct heating of the desired area
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Application

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Transparent Conductive Film Application -4
Transparent EMC Shield

Smartphones, microwave ovens, and other electronic devices around us are filled with electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic waves can cause trouble when they penetrate electronic devices, so it is necessary to block them.
While metal plates are commonly used for blocking, they present a challenge in terms of design aesthetics.
Panasonic has applied transparent conductive film technology as an electromagnetic wave shield, allowing for the shielding of electromagnetic waves without compromising the design aesthetics that were previously sacrificed.

Features

  • It is possible to achieve a shield with a transparency rate of 80% or higher and a shielding effectiveness of -50dB at 2.4GHz
  • High shielding performance even in the high-frequency range
Example configuration
Shielding performance

Application

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Microwave oven
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FA Equipment
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Double-sided full wiring Metal Mesh Transparent Conductive Film  Recommendation 

For those customers looking for transparent conductive film for various kinds of applications such as touch sensors

Contact us about Panasonic Transparent Conductive Film

Samples available upon request