Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) coatings include materials such as ITO, AZO, IGO, ZGO, and have found wide use due to their unique combination of high electrical conductivity and transparency in the visible portion of the spectrum.

Typical applications include electrodes for touch displays and solar cells, heat mirrors, and EMI shielding. In all these forms, the optical performance is measured by its transparency in the visible portion of the spectrum. For some applications its value is also in its ability to reject IR radiation, typically beyond 1 µm. For example low-E window coatings initially employed Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) layers as the broadband IR reflector.

Acree Technologies is a world leader in transparent conductive oxide coatings. We use sophisticated computer simulations to develop a coating with the desired properties, and then employ proprietary technologies to deposit it. Typically TCO coatings are multi-layered, and can include absorbing, insulating, and metallic/conductive layers. The multi-layer structure permits great flexibility in the type of effects we can achieve. Most of these films are put down using highly ionized deposition techniques, which creates dense and highly adherent films with excellent electro-optical performance. High ionization also features increased reactivity in both the vapor phase and the condensation process, which permits low working temperatures. This allows us to coat highly temperature sensitive materials such as plastics. We use in situ feedback and computer control to produce high quality, reproducible films.