In this study, we investigated the optical, electrical and exothermic characteristics of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer structures prepared with various Ag thicknesses on quartz and PI substrates. The transparent conducting properties of the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films depended on the thickness of the mid-layer metal film. The ITO/Ag (14 nm)/ITO showed the highest Haccke’s figure of merit (FOM) of approximately 19.3×10^-3 Ω^-1. In addition, the exothermic property depended on the substrate. For an applied voltage of 3.7 V, the ITO/Ag (14 nm)/ITO multilayers on quartz and PI substrates were heated up to 110℃ and 200℃, respectively. The bending tests demonstrated a comparable flexibility of the ITO/Ag/IT multilayer to other transparent electrodes, indicating the potential of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer as a flexible transparent conducting heater.

Herein we studied the electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films for application in transparent conducting electrodes. The ITO and Ag thin films were deposited onto soda lime glass (SLG) using radiofrequency and DC-sputtering methods, respectively. The as-synthesized ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films were analyzed using 4-point probe, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. We observed a rapid increase in electron concentration with increasing Ag thickness. However, electron mobility decreased with increasing Ag thickness. Finally, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films showed a characteristic low sheet resistance of 18 Ω/sq and high optical transmittance value (80%) with variation of Ag thickness (5~10 nm).

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films show a low sheet resistance and high transmittance in the visible range of the spectrum. Therefore, they play an important role as transparent electrodes for flat panel displays. However, their resistivity is rather high for use as a transparent electrode in large displays. One way to improve electrical and optical properties in large displays is to use ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films. ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films have lower sheet resistance than single layer ITO films with the same thickness. Prior to the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer experiments, optimal condition for thickness change are necessary. Their thicknesses were deposited differently in order to analyze electrical and optical properties. However, when optimal single film characteristics are applied to ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films, other phenomena appeared. After analyzing the electrical and optical properties by changing ITO and Ag film thickness, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films were optimized. By combining ITO film at 586 Å and Ag film at 10 nm, the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films showed optimized high optical transmittance of 87.65%, and the low sheet resistance of 5.5 Ω/sq.

ITO/Ag/ITO conductive films on PET (polyethylene terephthalate) was etched by a Q-switched diode-pumped neodymiun-doped yttrium vanadate (Nd:YVO4, λ = 1064 ㎚) laser. During the laser direct etching, the laser beam was incident on the two different directions of PET and the etching patterns were investigated and analyzed. At a lower repetition rate of laser pulse, the larger laser etched patterns were obtained by laser beam incident on reverse side of PET substrate. On the contrary, at a higher repetition rate, it was possible to find the larger etched patterns in case of the laser beam incidence on forward side of PET substrate. For the laser beam incidence on reverse side, the laser beam is expected to be transferred and scattered through the PET substrate and the laser beam energy is thought to be dependent on the etch laser pulse beam energy.