Abstract:

Indium tin oxide (ITO) targets are crucial for depositing transparent conductive films, yet their fabrication often faces challenges such as cracking and density inhomogeneity, especially in large-sized green bodies. Gel-casting technology, with its advantages of in-situ solidification of high-solid-content slurries, high green body strength, and uniform structure, is suitable for the preparation of high-performance ITO targets. However, cracking during drying remains a critical issue in the methacrylamide (MAM) system. The effects of monomer/crosslinker ratio, slurry solid loading, and gelation temperature on the cracking behavior of ITO green bodies are systematically investigated. The results indicate that crack-free ITO green bodies with uniform microstructure can be achieved under the optimized conditions: monomer content of 1%, monomer/crosslinker ratio of 20, solid loading of 80%, and gelation temperature between 55 ℃ and 65 °C. This work provides a reliable gel-casting strategy for fabricating high-quality ITO targets.

Key words: gel-casting, ITO green body, monomer, cross-linker