Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on acrylics by low temperature
reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of film thickness on the shiel
ding effectiveness of the films was investigated. The electric conductivity
increased with ITO film thickness. This is probably due to the scattering
of charge carriers by the external surfaces of thin films which is higher f
or films with smaller thickness. Results of magnetic moment versus magnetic
field suggested that ITO film is basically a non-magnetic material. An inc
rease in reflection loss with film thickness was observed, which was very s
imilar to that observed for the electrical conductivity. The absorption los
s was extremely small when compared with the reflection loss and therefore
could be neglected when considering the total shielding effectiveness. (C)
2001 Elsevier Science Ltd and Techna S.r.l. All rights reserved.