A team of material scientists and engineers at Penn State have discovered a new, transparent material that could be used to make smart devices transparent.

Their approach uses thin films of electrically conductive correlated metals, in which the electrons behave like liquid.

When light is shone on the material, it becomes less reflective, making it more see-through.

In recent years, Indium tin Oxide (ITO), a conductive material used for touchscreens and displays have spiked in price, and mobile devices make up almost 40 percent of the expense.

The Penn State researchers are working on a new strategy to replace ITO.

Typically, electrons flow like a gas in conventional metals like copper, gold, and silver. In correlated metals, like strontium vanadate and calcium vanadate, the electrons move like liquid, giving them a high optical transparency while maintaining a metal-like conductivity.

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