JP2003109434A - Transparent conductive film and touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transparent conductive thin film having a transparent conductive thin film formed on a high polymer film and causing no problem of a damage and peeling on the transparent conductive thin film, capable of providing a touch panel having high reliability and durability, and the touch panel equipped with the transparent conductive film. SOLUTION: In this transparent conductive film, a transparent conductive thin film 5 is formed on the high polymer film 4. A dielectric layer 9 is formed on the transparent conductive thin film 5. This touch panel is provided with the transparent conductive film as an upper electrode 6A and an lower electrode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a transparent conductive film in which a transparent conductive thin film is formed on a polymer film, and the transparent conductive thin film has excellent resistance to peeling and dropping, and excellent electrical characteristics and durability. And a touch panel including the transparent conductive film.

[0002]

[Prior Art] When pressed with a finger or drawn with a special pen,
Resistive film type touch panels, whose parts come into contact with facing electrodes and are energized to input signals, are widely used as input devices for various home appliances and mobile terminals because they are advantageous in making them smaller, lighter and thinner. .

As shown in FIG. 4, a resistive film type touch panel has a transparent conductive thin film 5 formed on a polymer film 4 on a lower electrode 3 formed by forming a transparent conductive thin film 2 on a glass plate 1. The upper electrode 6 is laminated with a spacer (microdot spacer) 7 so that the transparent conductive thin films 2 and 5 face each other. When the display surface of the upper electrode 6 is pressed with a finger or a pen, the upper electrode 6 And the lower electrode 3 are brought into contact with each other to be energized and a signal is inputted. A hard coat layer 8 is provided on the surface of the upper electrode 6 to protect the polymer film 4. That is, in such a touch panel, since the touch surface on the upper electrode 6 is rubbed with a finger or a pen, scratch resistance at that time is a very important characteristic. In the conventional touch panel, the hard coat layer 8 is provided on the touch surface side in order to improve the scratch resistance of the upper electrode 6.

For the purpose of improving the durability of the transparent conductive film for touch panel use, JP-A-2-19494 is used.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 3 describes that an ITO (tin indium oxide) transparent conductive thin film is formed and then heat treated to crystallize ITO. However, the base material of the transparent conductive film is a polymer film. Therefore, there is a limit to the heat treatment temperature, and heat treatment at a relatively low temperature for a long time such as 150 ° C. for 24 hours is required, which causes a problem in productivity and cost.

[0005]

In such a touch panel, the transparent conductive thin film 5 of the upper electrode 6 and the transparent conductive thin film 2 of the lower electrode 3 repeatedly make contact and non-contact with the input by a finger or a pen. As a matter of fact, the transparent conductive thin films 5, 2
Since the transparent conductive material such as ITO, which is a material for forming the same, has a low scratch resistance, the transparent conductive thin film 5 of the upper electrode 6, which is repeatedly deformed at the time of input on the touch panel, among the transparent conductive thin films 2 and 5, is particularly preferable. It is easy for cracks to occur, and the transparent conductive thin films 5 made of the same material can be contacted or not contacted with each other.
However, there is a problem in that it is easily peeled off from the polymer film 4 which is the base material and comes off.

When the transparent conductive thin film 5 of the upper electrode 6 is damaged or peeled off, the electric resistance value of the surface of the transparent conductive thin film 5 is changed, and its uniformity is lost and the electrical characteristics are impaired. , It is not possible to make accurate input, which impairs the reliability of the touch panel, damage,
It was a cause of defects and reduced durability.

The present invention solves the above conventional problems and is a transparent conductive film in which a transparent conductive thin film is formed on a polymer film, which is free from problems such as damage and peeling of the transparent conductive thin film, and has reliability and durability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transparent conductive film capable of providing a touch panel having high properties and a touch panel including the transparent conductive film.

[0008]

A transparent conductive film of the present invention comprises a polymer film, a transparent conductive thin film formed on the polymer film, and a coating layer formed on the transparent conductive thin film. It is characterized by

By covering the surface of the transparent conductive thin film with the coating layer, physical or chemical stress at the time of input on the touch panel does not directly affect the transparent conductive thin film, and damage or peeling of the transparent conductive thin film is prevented. It

The scratch resistance can also be enhanced by improving the strength of the transparent conductive film by forming the coating layer.

In the present invention, the coating layer is provided to improve the durability of the transparent conductive thin film,
By appropriately designing the refractive index and film thickness of the material of the coating layer, the laminated structure, etc., it is also possible to improve the total light transmittance of the transparent conductive film and control the color tone, and the characteristics of the transparent conductive film or The functionality can be further enhanced.

In the present invention, the coating layer contains, as a main component, one or more selected from the group consisting of oxides, nitrides, carbides, carbon and composite materials thereof (eg, oxynitride). Things, more specifically C, CN
_{x, BN} x, as a main component one or two or more selected from the group consisting of _{B x} C and SiC _x is preferable. The coating layer is made of Si, Ti, Sn, Nb, In, Mg,
Oxides, nitrides or oxynitrides of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of Ta and Zn, more specifically, SiO _x , TiO _x , SnO _x , NbO _x , InO.
It may be a transparent thin film formed of one kind or two or more kinds selected from the group consisting of _x , MgF _x , TaO _x and ZnO _x .

The film thickness of such a coating layer is 0.5 to 100.
It is preferably nm.

The coating layer according to the present invention is preferably formed by a physical vapor deposition method such as vacuum vapor deposition, sputtering, ion plating or laser ablation, or a chemical vapor deposition method such as CVD, and in particular, sputtering using SiC as a target. A thin film formed by, preferably SiC
_x , SiC _x O _y , SiC _x N _z , or SiC _x O _y N
It is preferably a thin film made of _z . In this case Si
As the C target, those having a density of 2.9 g / cm ³ or more are preferable, and in particular, Si obtained by sintering a mixture of silicon carbide powder and a non-metal type sintering aid.
It is preferable to use a C target.

In the present invention, the coating layer may also be the coating layer material as it is, or may be alcohol, ketone, toluene,
It may be formed by applying a liquid material dissolved in a solvent such as hexane onto the transparent conductive thin film.

The transparent conductive film of the present invention preferably has a surface resistance value on the coating layer side of 300 to 2000 Ω / Sq and a linearity value of 1.5% or less.

The linearity value is an index showing the uniformity of the resistance value of the transparent conductive film, and the linearity value can be obtained as follows.

Electrodes are provided on the two opposite sides of the transparent conductive film with silver paste or the like, and a DC voltage is applied between both electrodes.
At this time, the distance between both electrodes is L, and the applied voltage is V.
Next, at an arbitrary point on the transparent conductive film, the distance l from the negative electrode and the potential difference v between the negative electrode and that point are measured.

The linearity value is calculated by the following equation. The smaller the linearity value is, the better the uniformity of the resistance value is, and if it is 0%, the resistance value is completely uniform. Generally, in a resistance film type analog touch panel, the linearity value is preferably 1.5% or less.

[0020] Linearity (%) = | l / Lv / V | × 100

The transparent conductive thin film according to the present invention is an indium oxide-based oxide semiconductor, an oxide semiconductor of indium oxide and tin oxide (ITO), or an oxide semiconductor of indium oxide and zinc oxide (IZO). Is preferred.

The touch panel of the present invention comprises such a transparent conductive film of the present invention.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are sectional views showing an embodiment of a touch panel using the transparent conductive film of the present invention as an upper electrode, and FIG. 3 uses the transparent conductive film of the present invention as an upper electrode and a lower electrode. It is sectional drawing which shows embodiment of a touch panel. In FIGS. 1 to 3, members having the same functions as those shown in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The transparent conductive film of the present invention comprises the coating layers 9 and 9A formed on the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A formed on the polymer films 4 and 4A.

In the transparent conductive film of the present invention, as a resin material for the polymer film as a base material, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate (PM) is used.
MA), acrylic, polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene, triacetate (TAC), polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl butyral, metal ion crosslinked ethylene-methacrylic acid copolymer Examples include coalesce, polyurethane, and cellophane, but PET, PC, PMMA, TAC, especially P in terms of strength.
ET and TAC are preferred.

The thickness of such a polymer film varies depending on the use of the transparent conductive film, etc., but for use as the upper electrode of a touch panel, it is usually 13 μm to
It is about 0.5 mm. If the thickness of this polymer film is less than 13 μm, sufficient durability as the upper electrode cannot be obtained, and if it exceeds 0.5 mm, the resulting touch panel becomes thicker, and the flexibility as the upper electrode is increased. It is also not preferable because the property is impaired.

When the transparent conductive film is used as the lower electrode of the touch panel, the thickness of the polymer film is
The thickness may be thicker than the above range and may be about 0.5 to 2 mm, but as described later, it may be attached to a substrate such as a plastic plate to adopt the same thickness as when used as the upper electrode. .

As the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A formed on the polymer films 4 and 4A, ITO (tin indium oxide semiconductor), ATO (tin antimony oxide semiconductor), ZnO, Al-doped ZnO and SnO _{2 are used.} Examples include oxide-based transparent conductive thin films such as Indium oxide-based oxide semiconductors (including doping), oxide semiconductors of indium oxide and tin oxide (ITO), or oxide semiconductors of indium oxide and zinc oxide ( A thin film of IZO) is preferred. If the thickness of the transparent conductive thin film 5 is too thin, sufficient conductivity cannot be obtained, and even if it is excessively thick, there is no difference in conductivity, the film formation cost is high, and the thickness of the transparent conductive film is high. It is not preferable because it becomes thick. Therefore, the film thickness of the transparent conductive thin film 5 is 1 to 500 nm, especially 5 to 100 n.
It is preferably m.

In the present invention, as the coating layers 9 and 9A formed on the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A, the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A are used.
5A is a material that does not impair the conductivity and can maintain the transparency required for the transparent conductive film.

As the coating layer material, one containing at least one selected from the group consisting of oxides, nitrides, carbides, carbon and composite materials thereof (eg, oxynitride) as the main component, Specifically, C (carbon), CN
_x (x ≦ 1.4), BN _x (x ≦ 1.1), B _x C (x
= 1 × 10 ^{6 to} 2), SiC, and the like.
One having two or more species as the main component is used.

Further, even if a material having low conductivity or an insulating material is used, it is possible to form a coating layer having an extremely thin film thickness on the film surface of the transparent conductive thin film without affecting conductivity in the vertical direction. It is sufficient to use Si, Ti,
Oxide, nitride or oxynitride of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of Sn, Nb, In, Mg, Ta and Zn, more specifically SiO _x (x = 1.6). ~
2.0), TiO _x (x = 1.6 to 2.0), SnO _x
(X = 1.6 to 2.0), NbO _x (x = 1.0 to 2.
5), InO _x (x = 1.0 to 1.5), MgF _x (x
= 0.7 to 1.0), TaO _x (x = 1.0 to 2.
5), ZnO _x (x = 0.8 to 1.0) and the like,
These 1 type (s) or 2 or more types can be used. This transparent material may be used in combination with one kind or two or more kinds of the above-mentioned conductive protective materials.

The thickness of the coating layers 9 and 9A is appropriately determined according to the material used, the light transmittance required for the transparent conductive film, the required durability, etc. If the thickness is too thin, the protective effect of the transparent conductive thin film due to the formation of the coating layer cannot be sufficiently obtained, and if the thickness is too thick, the transparency is reduced, and especially when an insulating material is used. Is not preferable, because the conductivity of the transparent conductive thin film is lowered and the thickness of the transparent conductive film itself is increased. Therefore, the film thickness of the coating layers 9 and 9A is preferably 0.5 to 100 nm, particularly preferably 0.5 to 50 nm.

Regarding the light transmittance of the transparent conductive film, it is usually desired that the light transmittance of the transparent conductive film used for PDP or liquid crystal with weak emission is 80% or more. The film thickness of the coating layer is determined within a range in which a high light transmittance can be maintained. However, the brightness adjustment may be necessary in some applications such as a cathode ray tube that emits strong light. In such a case, the light transmittance of the transparent conductive film may be 80% or less.

Regarding the conductivity, when the transparent conductive film is used as a touch panel, the surface resistance value on the side of the coating layers 9, 9A after forming the coating layers 9, 9A is 300-.
It is desired to be 2000 Ω / Sq, particularly 400 to 1000 Ω / Sq.

In the present invention, the coating layers 9, 9A
It is desired to increase the durability of the transparent conductive thin film by forming the above, and to obtain high durability such that the linearity value is maintained at 1.5% or less even after long-term use.

Therefore, in the present invention, the material film thickness and layer structure of the coating layer are appropriately designed so that the surface resistance value, linearity value and light transmittance described above can be obtained.

Such a coating layer is formed by a physical vapor deposition method such as vacuum vapor deposition, sputtering, ion plating or laser ablation, or a chemical vapor deposition method such as CVD, particularly preferably a sputtering method. The layer is dense and has excellent adhesion to the transparent conductive thin film, there is little contamination during film formation, and film formation at high speed is possible.
Moreover, it is desirable that the coating layer can be continuously formed in the same apparatus after forming the transparent conductive thin film, and the film forming efficiency is excellent.

When a C or CN _x coating layer is formed by the sputtering method, high-purity carbon (graphite) is used as a target, and the coating of a desired composition is obtained by adjusting the types and flow rates of atmospheric gas and reactive gas. Layers can be formed.

SiC _x (x = 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to 10) and SiC _x O formed by adjusting the kinds and flow rates of the atmosphere gas and the reactive gas using a SiC target.
_y (x = 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to 10, y = 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to
_{5), SiC x N z (} x = 1 × 10 - 6 ~10, z = 1
× 10 ^{−6 to} 5), SiC _x O _y N _z (x = 1 × 10)
⁻⁶ to 10, y = 1 × 10 ^{−6 to} 5, z = 1 × 10 ⁻⁶
To 5) are particularly suitable as the coating layer.

This SiC target is obtained by sintering SiC powder with a non-metal type sintering aid such as coal tar pitch, phenol resin, furan resin, epoxy resin, glucose, sucrose, cellulose or starch. A SiC target of 2.9 g / cm ³ or more is preferable.
That is, in order to improve the film formation speed, when the input power is increased during the sputtering film formation, the glow discharge becomes an arc discharge,
Although this causes scratches on the transparent conductive thin film formed on the polymer film, such a high-density and uniform SiC target enables stable discharge with high input during sputtering film formation. The film speed can be increased.

Such a SiC target is manufactured by uniformly mixing the above-mentioned non-metal type sintering aid with SiC powder in an amount of about 3 to 30% by weight and sintering the mixture at about 1700 to 2200 ° C. You can Such Si
The density of the C target is usually 2.9 g / cm ³ or more, and if the SiC target is close to such a theoretical density, there is no problem of gas generation during sputtering film formation, and stable sputtering film formation can be performed.

There are no particular restrictions on the sputtering conditions for forming the coating layer, and the coating can be carried out at a vacuum degree of 0.05 to 1 Pa and an input power density of about ² to 500 kW / m ^2. A coating layer having a desired composition and a desired film thickness can be formed by adjusting the flow rate of the characteristic gas and the film formation time.

The transparent conductive thin film can be formed by a conventional method, but it is generally preferable to form the transparent conductive thin film by a sputtering method like the coating layer. In this case,
By changing only the target, the transparent conductive thin film and the coating layer can be successively formed by sputtering in the same sputtering apparatus.

The coating layer may also be formed by coating the transparent conductive thin film with the coating layer material as it is or by dissolving a liquid material dissolved in a solvent such as alcohol, ketone, toluene or hexane.

In the transparent conductive film of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a hard coat layer 8 may be formed on the surface of the polymer film 4 opposite to the surface on which the transparent conductive thin film 5 is formed. . Examples of the hard coat layer 8 include an acrylic layer, an epoxy layer, a urethane layer, and a silicon layer, and the thickness thereof is usually about 1 to 50 μm.

Although the transparent conductive thin film may be directly formed on the polymer film, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the underlayer 1 is provided between the polymer films 4, 4A and the transparent conductive thin films 5, 5A.
0,10A may be interposed, and such an underlayer 1
By forming 0,10A, the polymer film 4,
Adhesion of the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A to 4A can be improved, and peeling of the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A due to repeated deformation can be prevented. That is, by forming the underlayers 10 and 10A on the polymer films 4 and 4A, it is possible to prevent gas from being generated from the polymer films 4 and 4A during film formation,
Transparent conductive thin film 5,5A for polymer film 4,4A
Can be formed with good adhesion. Also,
The underlayers 10 and 10A serve as an intermediate layer between the polymer films 4 and 4A and the transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A to enhance the adhesion between them. Further, the scratch resistance can be enhanced by improving the strength of the transparent conductive film by forming the base layers 10 and 10A.

In this case, examples of the material for forming the base layers 10 and 10A include acrylic, urethane, and epoxy resin layers, and hydrolysates of organic silicon compounds.

Further, the underlayer 1 is formed on the polymer films 4 and 4A.
In order to increase the adhesive strength of the thin film to be formed, a plasma treatment is performed on the surface of the polymer film 4, 4A according to a conventional method before forming 0, 10A and the transparent conductive thin films 5, 5A.
Treatments such as corona treatment and solvent cleaning may be performed.

For the purpose of improving the optical characteristics of the transparent conductive film, the underlying layer 10 of the transparent conductive thin film 5 may be a two-layer film of a low refractive index film and a high refractive index film, or an alternate laminated film of these, or a hard film. The surface of the coat layer 8 may be antiglare processed or AR processed.

The touch panel shown in FIG. 1 has an upper electrode 6A.
As a transparent conductive thin film 5 on one surface of the polymer film 4,
The transparent conductive film of the present invention in which the hard coat layer 8 is formed on the other surface of the transparent conductive thin film 5 is laminated, and the transparent conductive thin film 5 of the upper electrode 6A is prevented from being damaged or peeled off by signal input. It has excellent durability and reliability in electrical characteristics.

The touch panel shown in FIG. 2 has an upper electrode 6B.
As the above, the transparent conductive film of the present invention in which the underlayer 10, the transparent conductive thin film 5 and the coating layer 9 are laminated on one surface of the polymer film 4 and the hard coat layer 8 is formed on the other surface is used. As compared with the touch panel shown in FIG. 1, the adhesiveness of the transparent conductive thin film 5 is better, and the durability and reliability are even better.

The touch panel shown in FIG. 3 uses the transparent conductive film of the present invention as the lower electrode in FIG. Lower electrode 3A of this touch panel
Is a transparent conductive thin film 5A formed on a polymer film 4A via an underlayer 10A, and a coating layer 9A is formed on the transparent conductive thin film 5A. , The microdot spacers 7 are formed, and the microdot spacers 7 are bonded to the plastic plate 12 such as an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin by the adhesive 11, and in this touch panel, the upper electrode 6B and the lower electrode 3
The transparent conductive thin films 5 and 5A of A are both protected by the coating layers 9 and 9A, and the adhesion is enhanced by the base layers 10 and 10A.
The durability and reliability are extremely high.

The transparent conductive film of the present invention can be effectively used not only as an upper electrode or a lower electrode of a touch panel, but also as a transparent switching device and various other optical transparent conductive film applications.

[0055]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples below.

Example 1 A PET film having a thickness of 188 μm was used as a base material, and a JSR acrylic photocurable hard coating agent (Z7501: solid content concentration 35% by weight, solvent MEK) was first applied by wet coating on one side. A hard coat layer having a thickness of 5 μm was formed.

This film was set in a magnetron DC sputtering device together with an ITO target having a tin oxide content of 10% by weight and a purity of 99.99% and a graphite target having a purity of 99% as targets of a transparent conductive thin film.

First, the inside of the apparatus is set to 1 × 1 by a turbo molecular pump.
After exhausting to 0 ⁻⁴ Pa, Ar gas was added at 196 scc
m, O ₂ gas was introduced as a mixed gas at a flow rate of 4 sccm, and the atmosphere pressure was adjusted to 0.5 Pa. Then, a voltage is applied to the ITO target, and a thickness of about 20 nm is applied to the surface of the PET film opposite to the hard coat layer forming surface.
An ITO thin film having a thickness was formed. Then, after replacing the inside of the apparatus with Ar gas, the atmospheric pressure was adjusted to 0.5 Pa, and a voltage was applied to the graphite target to form a carbon thin film with a thickness of about 3 nm as a coating layer on the ITO thin film.

The DC input power of the sputtering apparatus was 4 kW.

With respect to the obtained transparent conductive film, the surface resistance value on the coating layer side was measured by a surface resistance measuring device (“Loresta AP” manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation), and a sliding writing test was conducted by the following method. The results are shown in Table 1.

<Sliding writing test> The transparent conductive thin film (covering layer) side of the transparent conductive film is made to face an ITO glass substrate with a microdot spacer, and these are bonded together, and the surface of the transparent conductive film on which the hard coat layer is formed is polyacetal. Use a resin input pen (0.8R tip) to set 250
A reciprocal sliding writing test was conducted by applying a load of gf. After the test, the linearity value was measured, and a linearity value of 1.5% or less was evaluated as good, and a linearity value of more than 1.5% was evaluated as poor. In addition, the appearance was observed.

Example 2 In Example 1, S was used instead of the graphite target.
Using an iC target, an S layer with a thickness of about 3 nm was used as a coating layer.
A transparent conductive film was produced in the same manner except that the iC thin film was formed.

About this transparent conductive film, Example 1
The surface resistance value was measured and a sliding writing test was conducted in the same manner as in, and the results are shown in Table 1.

The SiC target used was SiC.
It has a density of 2.92 g / cm ³ obtained by sintering at 2100 ° C. a mixture of powder and 20% by weight of a phenol resin as a sintering aid.

Example 3 In Example 2, after forming the ITO transparent conductive thin film, a mixed gas of 170 sccm of Ar gas and 30 sccm of O ₂ gas was introduced into the apparatus, and the atmosphere pressure was adjusted to 0.5 Pa. Then, by applying a voltage to the SiC target, a SiC _x O _y layer having a thickness of about 3 nm is formed as a coating layer.
A transparent conductive film was produced in the same manner except that a (x = 0.05, y = 1.9) thin film was formed.

About this transparent conductive film, Example 1
The surface resistance value was measured and a sliding writing test was conducted in the same manner as in, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Example 4 In Example 1, after forming the ITO transparent conductive thin film, a mixed gas of 200 sccm of N ₂ gas was introduced into the apparatus,
The atmosphere pressure was adjusted to 5 Pa, and then a voltage was applied to the graphite target to form a CN _x (x = 0.8) thin film with a thickness of about 3 nm as a coating layer in the same manner. To produce a transparent conductive film.

About this transparent conductive film, Example 1
The surface resistance value was measured and a sliding writing test was conducted in the same manner as in, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Comparative Example 1 A transparent conductive film was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the coating layer was not formed.

About this transparent conductive film, Example 1
The surface resistance value was measured and a sliding writing test was conducted in the same manner as in, and the results are shown in Table 1.

[0071]

[Table 1]

From Table 1, it can be seen that the present invention provides a transparent conductive film which is free from the problem of deterioration of electric characteristics and has excellent durability.

[0073]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the transparent conductive thin film of the transparent conductive film is effectively prevented from being damaged or peeled off by the coating layer on the transparent conductive thin film. By using the touch panel, there is no problem of deterioration of electric characteristics due to damage or peeling of the transparent conductive thin film, and a touch panel excellent in durability and reliability is provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a touch panel provided with a transparent conductive film of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of a touch panel including the transparent conductive film of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of a touch panel including the transparent conductive film of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional touch panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 glass plate 2 Transparent conductive thin film 3,3A lower electrode 4,4A polymer film 5,5A transparent conductive thin film 6,6A, 6B Upper electrode 7 Spacer 8 Hard coat layer 9,9A coating layer 10,10A Underlayer 11 Adhesive 12 plastic plates

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) C23C 16/40 C23C 16/40 G06F 3/033 360 G06F 3/033 360A (72) Inventor Yukihiro Kusano United Kingdom CB21 ARX Cambridge Millrain Institute for Manufacturing For Manufacturing University of Cambridge F Term JN01A YY00B 4K029 AA11 AA25 BA34 BA43 BA45 BA50 BA55 BA58 BB02 BC09 BD00 CA01 CA03 CA05 DB20 EA01 4K030 BA27 BA35 BA36 BA38 BA42 BB12 CA07 CA12 JA01 LA01 LA11 5B087 CC12 CC16 5G307 FA02 FB01 FC01 FC02 FC05

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A transparent conductive film comprising a polymer film, a transparent conductive thin film formed on the polymer film, and a coating layer formed on the transparent conductive thin film. 2. The coating layer according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer is an oxide,
A transparent conductive film, which is composed mainly of one or more selected from the group consisting of nitrides, carbides, carbon and composite materials thereof. 3. The coating layer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the coating layer contains at least one selected from the group consisting of C, CN _x , BN _x , B _x C and SiC _x as a main component. And transparent conductive film. 4. The coating layer according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer is S.
an oxide of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of i, Ti, Sn, Nb, In, Mg, Ta and Zn,
A transparent conductive film, which is a transparent thin film formed of a nitride or an oxynitride. 5. The transparent conductive film according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer has a thickness of 0.5 to 100 nm. 6. The coating layer according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer is formed by a physical vapor deposition method such as vacuum vapor deposition, sputtering, ion plating or laser ablation, or a chemical vapor deposition method such as CVD. A transparent conductive film characterized by the above. 7. The transparent conductive thin film according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer material is applied as it is or a liquid material dissolved in a solvent such as alcohol, ketone, toluene or hexane is applied onto the transparent conductive thin film. A transparent conductive film having a coating layer formed thereon. 8. The transparent conductive film according to claim 6, wherein the coating layer is a thin film formed by sputtering using SiC as a target. 9. The Si layer according to claim 8, wherein the coating layer is formed by sputtering using SiC as a target.
C _x , SiC _x O _y , SiC _x N _z , or SiC _x O _y
A transparent conductive film, which is a thin film made of N _z . 10. The transparent conductive film according to claim 8, wherein the SiC target has a density of 2.9 g / cm ³ or more. 11. The SiC target according to claim 8, wherein the SiC target is obtained by sintering a mixture of silicon carbide powder and a non-metal type sintering aid. And transparent conductive film. 12. The surface resistance value on the coating layer side according to claim 1, wherein the surface resistance value is 300 to 2000Ω.
/ Sq and a linearity value of 1.5% or less, a transparent conductive film. 13. The indium oxide-based oxide semiconductor, the oxide semiconductor of indium oxide and tin oxide, or the oxide semiconductor of indium oxide and zinc oxide according to any one of claims 1 to 12. It is a thin film of transparent conductive film. 14. A touch panel comprising the transparent conductive film according to any one of claims 1 to 13.