AgITO for high-performance semi-transparent wideband antenna applications

Abstract

Semi-transparent wide-band coplanar waveguide slot antennas based on commercial indium tin oxide (CITO) and silver sandwiched indium tin oxide (AgITO) conductor thin films on soda-lime glass substrate are proposed. RF/DC sputtering was functionalised to deposit the AgITO and obtaining sheet resistance (Rs) below 1 Ω/Sq. coupled with ∼52% transparency. The associated three thin films (AgITO) deposition parameters were optimised using bandgap engineering to obtain a low ohmic interfacial contact resistance. The ultra-thin AgITO and CITO conductor films impact on the proposed antennas bandwidth and gain is introduced. The two antennas were fabricated and measured. The AgITO presented a maximum gain of 3 dBi against −2.9 dBi for CITO antenna at 5.8 GHz coupled with a nearly stable gain over a wide band of about 4 GHz.