ITO sputtering target

Preparation method of ITO sputtering target material

Vacuum hot pressing

The high density ITO ceramic target with a density of 91% ~ 96% can be produced by using heat and mechanical energy to densify ITO powder by vacuum hot pressing.This method can easily obtain ITO target with density close to the expected and porosity close to zero.However, due to the limitation of equipment and mold size, vacuum hot pressing has less advantages in preparing large-size sputtering target.

Hot isostatic pressing

Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is used to prepare ITO sputtering targets by sintering under pressure or pressurizing at high temperature.Similar to vacuum hot pressing, HIP can be heated and pressurized to achieve high density (almost theoretical density) and excellent physical and mechanical properties.But it is also limited by equipment pressure and cylinder size.

Room temperature sintering

Room temperature sintering is to first prepare high-density target prefabricated by slurry pouring or prepressing, and then sintering ITO target at a certain atmosphere and temperature.Its biggest advantage is that it can produce large size sputtering target material.However, compared with other sintering methods, the purity of target prepared by this method is lower.

Cold isostatic pressing

Cold isostatic pressing (CIP) takes rubber or plastic as covering material and liquid as pressure medium to transfer super high pressure at room temperature.CIP can also prepare ITO sputtering target with larger size.And cheap, suitable for mass production.However, CIP requires the material to be sintered at 1500~1600°C in the pure oxygen environment of 0.1~0.9 MPa, which has a high risk.

Application of ITO sputtering target material

ITO sputtering target and its derivatives, such as ITO film and ITO glass, are widely used in all walks of life.ITO targets are commonly used to make transparent conductive coatings for liquid crystal displays (LCDS), flat panel displays, plasma displays and touch panels. ITO films are used for organic light-emitting diodes, solar cells and antistatic coatings.In addition to the electronics industry, ITO targets are also used in various optical coatings, most notably infrared reflective coatings and sodium vapor lamp glass for automobiles.