CO2-laser treatment of indium tin oxide nanoparticle coatings on flexible polyethyleneterephthalate substrates

A CO2-laser treatment was used to improve the electrical conductivity of coatings of indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles on flexible polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) substrates. The electrical conductivity and the transparency of CO2-laser-treated ITO nanoparticle coatings were characterized with regard to the application as transparent electrodes. Furthermore, the stability of the electrical conductivity under oscillatory bending was investigated. A specific resistance of 0.12 Ω cm is obtained by CO2-laser treatment without thermally damaging the PET film. The improvement of the electrical conductivity can be explained by a slight sinter neck formation. For a film thickness of 3 μm, a sheet resistance of 400 Ω/□ and a transmission in the visible range of 80% were achieved. The stability of the electrical conductivity of CO2-laser-treated ITO nanoparticle coatings under bending was investigated using a specially constructed device for the application of various oscillatory bending loads. For a bending radius of 10 mm, the sheet resistance does not exceed 1000 Ω/□ after 300 bending cycles. Compared to commercial sputtered ITO coatings, CO2-laser-treated ITO nanoparticle coatings show a significant higher stability under oscillatory bending.