ITO Glass Properties

ITO Glass Properties

ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) glass is one of the most common and widely used TCOs (transparent Conducting Oxides). The properties of ITO glass coatings offer advantages that make them the preferred solution for many industries’ applications.

Indium Tin Oxide’s main two properties open up new possibilities for standard glass sheets – it is both a clear substance (useful for glass!) and is also electrically conductive. As you may already know, conductive glass has a multitude of applications, which we list further down.

ITO is a relatively inexpensive material which is easily deposited as a fine film onto substrates such as PET, plastics and glass, normally by physical vapour deposition.

ITO glass applications

From military to medical, transport to research and development and even your trusted cellphone, ITO glass is present more times than you might imagine. Low emission windows utilise ITO, as well as smart glass. In military and medical applications, ITO glass is used for instrument displays. ITO heated windows are crucial in an aircraft cockpit window and the world of electron microscopy has benefitted from ITO coated slides.

Touchscreens (ATMs, touch enabled self serve checkouts and even your phone) may utilise ITO in the glass screen. When a touch is applied, the ITO screen detects the change in charge location, along with the gesture involved.

Diamond Coatings ITO glass

We offer a range of ITO glass options directly from our processing plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Here are some of the ITO glass options currently available to our customers:

BK7 Glass – Offering an average optical performance (uncoated) of 93 per cent (a performance that can be enhanced further by application of anti-reflective coatings), this comparatively expensive type of glass is manufactured in blocks before being cut to required thicknesses.

Borosilicate Glass – This glass type consists primarily of silica (70 per cent) and calcium, sodium, potassium and boric oxides (1, 8, 8 and 10 per cent respectively). Although this glass is appreciably more difficult to manufacture than traditional glass, its superior durability means it is highly economical in terms of production.

Fused Quartz/Silica Glass – Containing primarily non-crystalline (amorphous) silica, these glass types are manufactured using different processes:

Fused Quartz is a usually transparent glass that is produced by melting high-purity naturally occurring quartz within gas/oxygen-fuelled (i.e. flame fused quartz) or electric (i.e. electrically fused quartz) furnaces at temperatures around 2,000º C.

Fused Silica is a usually translucent or opaque type of glass frequently also referred to as “higher standard fused quartz”. It is produced by melting high-purity silica feedstock within electric furnaces.

Soda Lime Glass & chemically or thermally toughened options form our most commonly used and most inexpensive substrate option.

We can also offer a selection of smooth-faced OLED-grade types of ITO coated glass. Please get in touch for more detailed information and/or to discuss the specific optical requirements of your application with one of our technical specialists.