Microwave annealing of indium tin oxide nanoparticle ink patterned by ink-jet printing

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is one of the most widely used transparent conducting oxides because of its two chief properties, electrical conductivity and optical transparency, as well as the ease with which it can be deposited as a thin film. In this study, we fabricated the ITO nanoparticles, and dispersed them in an organic mixture of liquid to make a solution for printing. The solution was ink-jet printed on a glass, and we employed microwave heating technology to make the ITO coated layer conductive and transparent. Microwave technology uses electromagnetic waves that pass through material and cause its molecules to oscillate, generating heat. It generates heat within the material and heats the entire volume at about the same rate. The ITO layers could be successfully annealed by the microwave irradiation, which is resulted in the sheet resistance of 365 ohm/sq and the transmittance of 84% within only 15 min of heating.