Reactive magnetron sputtering of indium tin oxide on acrylics

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on acrylics by low temperature reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of film thickness on the shielding effectiveness of the films was investigated. The electric conductivity increased with ITO film thickness. This is probably due to the scattering of charge carriers by the external surfaces of thin films which is higher for films with smaller thickness. An increase in reflection loss with film thickness was observed, which was very similar to that observed for the electrical conductivity. The effects of oxygen flow and film thickness on the internal stress and adhesion of ITO films on acrylics were also evaluated. Results from the measurement of lattice parameters suggested that the internal compressive stress parallel to the film surface increased with increasing oxygen flow rate. This was possibly due to the peening effects of bombarding particles and the decrease in oxygen vacancies at relatively high oxygen flow.