Design of patterned fluorine-doped tin oxide for radome de-icing heater

Abstract

We suggested microwave transparent heaters by using a patterned fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO). The pattern is a continuous waveform, and the DC voltage is applied for Joule heating. While the pattern of conductive materials is mostly associated with electromagnetic behavior, this study extends its potential application to thermodynamics. Especially for radome applications, the microwave transparent heater is able to remove the ice accretion on the radome surface in order to prevent not only aerodynamic instability, but also communicative failure. The characteristics of the RF transmission and saturation temperature, which are the key parameters of FTO as a conductive material, were investigated by using numerical simulation and an experiment. A reasonable agreement between the measurements and the numerical simulations was achieved. This multi-functional waveform-patterned FTO has both X-band transparency and Joule heating performance so that it can be a cornerstone for electromagnetic and thermal applications.

Solution processed glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide/aluminum-doped zinc oxide double layer thin films for transparent heater and near-infrared reflecting applications

“…The value of T U was calculated as 11.42%, which was deduced by processing the IR camera image of the sample by employing 1 × 1 mm measure point for the determination of T H and T L values and a user-defined rectangle measure area (covers the entire surface of the heater by excluding the electrodes) to obtain the average temperature. The thermal homogeneity of the double layer heater presented in this study is better than patterned wire defroster used in car windows [85], slightly better than that produced by metal quantum nanodots layered FTO heater [82] and slightly lower than that proposed for radome deicing application [46]. Recyclability of the glass/FTO/AZO THs was examined at switching voltages of 0 and 12 V, Fig.…”

“…The increase in the temperature developed very gradually for all voltage values and a considerable rise was only achieved in case of 9 V. The temperature was saturated after a response time of 195 s (the required time for 90% of saturation temperature). Bare FTO coatings were studied previously in literature for their its THs characteristics [46,48,68,82], and a wide range of achievable surface temperatures (39-93 °C) were reported depending on the sample size, film thickness, fluorine doping ratio, production method, substrate type, and applied voltages. Therefore, it can be said that the heating performance of the FTO substrate used for the current study agrees with the previous literature.…”

“…In addition, Ravikumar et al investigated the effect of FTO layer thickness on the optoelectronic properties of AZO/FTO spray pyrolysis-deposited double layer films [44]. Though the performance of sandwich-like architectures as in the form of AZO/metal/AZO (or FTO/metal/FTO) [17,45] or single layer films of FTO [46] and AZO [47] have been presented thoroughly as THs in recent years, double-layered FTO/ AZO thin films have been paid little attention. This architecture was only considered by Kim et al, for its electrothermal behavior using electron cyclotron resonance-metal organic chemical vapor deposition for the FTO layer and RF sputtering for the AZO layer [48].…”

Flexible, Air-Stable, High-Performance Heaters Based on Nanoscale-Thick Graphite Films

“…Overall, the thermal profile is excellent and characteristic of a high crystalline-quality graphite film, with the central region accumulating the maximum energy (heat dissipation) owing to the Joule heating effect. 62 Notably, most heaters based on carbon nanomaterials 10,21,[23][24][25]31 (or alternative materials 63 ) sustain a smaller useful heating area than ours and at lower T max , in the range of 60−100 °C.…”

Stretchable and Transparent Heaters Based on Hydrophobic Ionogels with Superior Moisture Insensitivity

“…Transparent heaters (THs) are visually transparent devices that utilize conductive materials to generate heat through the Joule effect when a voltage is applied . Prior to 1995, rigid THs were primarily developed using transparent conductive oxides, notably, indium tin oxide (ITO) . In recent decades, flexible and even stretchable THs have been rapidly developed based on advanced conductive materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, silver nanowires, and conductive polymers, to meet the requirements of state-of-the-art flexible electronic devices. − These stretchable electronic THs are fabricated by incorporating conductive networks within a flexible polymer matrix.…”