Process for manufacturing ITO alloy articles
AssigneeInnovative Sputtering Technology
InventorsPaul Lippens, Ludo Froyen, Louis Buekenhout
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Abstract
The invention relates to a process for manufacturing a pore free powder metallurgical alloy article starting with a minor portion of Sn powder and a major portion of In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder and comprising the steps of: substantially uniformly distributing and fixing the Sn powder on the surface of the In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder by mixing and milling the powders in the presence of a process controlling agent such as an alcohol to form alloyed powders, and compacting the so alloyed powders at high temperature to form the article. The article has a good electrical conductivity and is usable as a target for plasma sputtering ITO compositions.
Claims9
A process for manufacturing a pore free powder metallurgical alloy article starting with a minor portion of Sn powder and a major portion of In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder, wherein both the Sn and In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powders have a purity of at least 99.9%, the process comprising the steps of:
- (i) forming an alloyed powder of the Sn and In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powders such that the Sn powder is substantially uniformly distributed and fixed on the surface of the In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder by mixing and milling the Sn and In.sub.2 O.sub.3 powders in the presence of an alcohol as a process controlling agent;
- and
- (ii) compacting at high temperature the alloyed powder to form the article;
- wherein
- (iii) the volume of the individual ln.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder is on average larger than that of the individual Sn powder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.