Indium Tin Oxide (ITO):
The laser sintering process is used to make the ITO, which sinters the nanoparticle ink of In-Sn alloy using a continuous wave laser. This process is not only simpler but also more cost effective than other existed methods. Its details are shown as follow. [22]
[22] Formation of indium tin oxide film by wet process using laser sintering
Authors: GangQin, LidanFan, AkiraWatanabe
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924013615300625#sec0010
Carbon Nanotube (CNT):
There are two processes in making CNT, commonly known as Dry Process and Wet Process. These processes are shown as below. [23]
Dry Process:
Generally, for dry processes, CNT films exhibit higher quality with better separated individual CNTs, fewer defects and better CNT–CNT contact, compared with wet processes.
Wet Process:
Wet process alllows a low temperature without vacuum, thus it can reduce the production costs. Moreover, it broadens the substrate selection containing plastic and so on.
[23] Carbon nanotube based transparent conductive films: progress, challenges, and perspectives
Authors: Ying Zhou & Reiko Azumi
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14686996.2016.1214526
AgNWs
For the preparation of the AgNWs, a modified polyol reduction was used. [24]
[24] Highly transparent low resistance ATO/AgNWs/ATO flexible transparent conductive thin films
Authors: MuyingWu, HaoranZheng, XiaopengLi, ShihuiYu
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272884219330202
Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide (AZO):
Aluminum doped zinc oxide films were processed through a non-alcoxide sol–gel and dip-coating technique, from zinc acetate and aluminum nitrate in ethanolic solution. The acetate hydrolysis was promoted by lactic acid. The doping level of aluminum was 0.8 mol%. Acetylacetone and diethanolamine were used as additives to improve film homogeneity. [25]
Process 3: Aging of coatings (gels)
After each coating, place the substrate in an oven of 100 C (RH=70%) for 15 minutes.
The film is kept in a horizontal position to avoid loss of transferred sol, resulting in different coating thickness.
[25] Aluminium doped zinc oxide films: formation process and optical properties
Authors: Rodrigo, FerreiraSilvaMaria, ElisabeteDarbello, Zaniquelli
Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)
For continuous transparent conductive film formation, laser sintering was performed by scanning with a line-shaped laser beam that was shaped using a beam expander and a cylindrical lens. The line-shaped beam was focused on the precursor In–Sn alloy nanoparticle film through an achromatic lens (NYTL-30-30PY1, SIGMA KOKI). The focused laser beam was irradiated on the precursor film by raster scanning using an automated xyz-translation stage controlled by a computer. The experimental setup is schematically illustrated in Fig. 4.1.
Fig. 4.1. Schematic of the laser sintering equipment.
Carbon Nanotube (CNT)
Fig. 4.2. Wet Process in Making CNT
AgNWs
Fig. 4.3. The fabrication procedure of the ATO/AgNWs/ATO tri-layer flexible thin films