Investigation into the manipulation of the properties of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coatings

This thesis investigates the manipulation of the properties of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coatings. This is carried out with a combination of Experimental and Theoretical work. The coating of ITO onto a glass substrate was both theoretically modelled and the practical work analysed to observe the effects. Observation of the effects on the output parameters when depositing a single layer of ITO via Electron beam evaporation onto a glass substrate multiple times with varying conditions was carried out. The amount of ITO required to produce optimum % transmission and the deposition conditions required to provide <20 7/▢ and <100 7/▢ were investigated. This study then considered the addition of a single layer of an additional coating both theoretically and practically to maximise the %T for the wavelength ranges under consideration. From this, the ideal refractive index for the additional coating to maximise the %T for the ranges was deduced. Progression was then made to consider multiple layers. Theoretical work carried out on the addition of extra layers and the deduction of the optimal refractive index implied that overall, Cryolite would produce the best average %T across the ranges considered. In addition to this, the results of ITO deposition via Evaporation and sputtering were examined to determine the difference the technique used has upon the coating produced.