A research team from South Korea has developed transparent and bendable semiconductor material, which could be used in future transtapent portable devices.

The researchers from the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) have developed the organic semiconductor material by mixing polymeric semiconductor with insulating polymer.

Currently used semiconductors such as metallic oxide and carbon materials as well as silicon do not have both flexibility and transparency characteristics. Even flexible polymeric organic semiconductors are not transparent, as they absorb light.

The South Korean researchers used a polymeric polystyrene as an insulator to a small amount of polymeric semiconductor (DPP2T). DPP2T forms a thin net-like structure within the transparent interior of the polystyrene. Transmittance of visible ray can be close to 100%, and nn object that is placed on the other side can be seen without any color distortions through a thin film.

This material is expected to push forward development of new electronic devices such as transparent IoT devices that can be attached on a human body, wearable devices and ultra-thin transparent and flexible displays.