 Elam led a team to create ALD methods for depositing ITO films, a common transparent conducting thin film found in devices such as solar cells, flat panel displays, and touch screens, onto nanoporous supports and over large substrate areas.One patented method, which used two oxygen-sources “synergistically” to allow materials to grow at lower-than-normal temperatures, proved capable of coating nanoporous materials with high precision and uniformity.Elam has authored over 250 papers on the subject of ALD, his work has been cited over 22,000 times.