The properties of ITO indium tin oxide coatings offer advantages that make them the preferred solution for many industries’ applications. But exactly what are these advantages? Here’s what you need to know…
Advantages of Indium Tin Oxide ITO Coatings
The first advantage of indium tin oxide ITO coatings is that they are incredibly versatile, as they can be vacuum deposited:
- Onto diverse substrates including acrylic and glass; polycarbonate and polyester
- At varying thicknesses & sheet resistances, with the latter commencing at only 2.5 ohms/square (please note: sheet resistances lower than 10 ohms/sq. can only be provided on glass substrates).
Combined with the fact that ITO coatings both higher electrical conductivity and optical transparency*, this versatility makes them the ideal answer to the demands of many electronic/optoelectronic applications across a wide range of industries.
*At a wavelength range of 525nm up to 600nm, a coating with a sheet resistance of 20 ohms/sq. has typical light transmissions peaking at 81% and 87% respectively on polycarbonate and glass.
Other major advantages of ITO coatings are their chemical stability and durability:
Offering good resistance to penetration by moisture/water, these coatings are also resistant to delaminating, flaking and peeling, cracking and crazing. What’s more they show no evidence of optical degradation or reductions in either coating adhesion or sheet resistance when subjected to stringent MIL STD 48497 testing, which includes humidity & thermal cycling and subjection to salt spray.
These qualities combine to make indium tin oxide coatings the ideal solution for applications exposed to heavy use and/or unforgiving environmental conditions.
Then, of course, there is these coatings’ shielding effectiveness:
Offering shielding effectiveness rates of 58dB and 26dB at 1MHz and 1GHz respectively, ITO coatings inhibit and minimise (and potentially eliminate) the effects of ESD, RFI and EMI (Electro-Static Discharge, Radio Frequency Interface & Electro Magnetic Interface). This naturally serves not only to improve any given electronic device’s reception but also to improve its overall performance.
Last, but by no means least, ITO coatings can, unlike many other coatings consisting of diverse other doped metal oxides, be precision etched, which, of course, enables creation of fine conductor paths and highly complex, intricate patterning to meet specific customer requirements.
Bearing the 21st Century’s demands for ever lighter, smaller devices in mind, the ability to do this is naturally of major advantage for all types of consumer, industrial and commercial applications.
DC ITO Indium Tin Oxide Coatings
Diamond Coatings offer an extensive selection of ITO coatings, index-matched ITO coatings and multi-layer anti-reflective (AR) coatings, many of which were designed specifically to meet worldwide customers’ precise optoelectronic/optical requirements.
Are you currently working on an application with special optical/optoelectronic requirements? Get in touch with our technical experts today – we will be more than happy to recommend and/or design a coating solution that will perfectly match these requirements for you.