Wet chemical deposited ITO coatings on flexible substrates for organic photodiodes

ITO (tin doped indium oxide) coatings were produced by gravure printing process on PET and PEN foils. The printing paste consists of ITO nanoparticles, which are dispersed in a solvent and mixed with a binder. By modification of the printing paste, the sheet resistance (R/sq) of the ITO coatings after hardening under UV-irradiation at low temperatures (<130 degrees C) could be decreased to 1 k Omega/sq. R/sq could be further reduced down to 0.5 k Omega/sq by heat treatment under forming gas atmosphere (N-2/H-2), the transmission of the ITO coated foils still being more than 80% in the visible range. The application of these ITO films as a bottom electrode in organic photodiodes (OPDs) is shown, and the current density-voltage characteristics of the OPDs are presented. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.