METHODS FOR OPTIMIZED PRODUCTION OF MULTILAYER METAL/TRANSPARENT CONDUCTING OXIDE (TCO) CONSTRUCTS

• US 20160274050A1
• Filed: 03/18/2016
• Published: 09/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Materion Corporation
• Original Assignee: Materion Corporation
• Inventors: Goodwin, Kevin V., Newton, Robert R., Asiello, Peter J., Tribick, Ian S.
• Granted Patent: US 10,378,098 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/02 Pretreatment of the material to be coated C23C14/04 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/086 of zinc, germanium, cadmium, indium, tin, thallium or bismuth
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/205 by cathodic sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/3464 using more than one target C23C14/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/562 for coating elongated substrates
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/3272 Test elements therefor, i.e. disposable laminated substrates with electrodes, reagent and channels optical biosensors G01N33/52

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to processes and apparatuses for optimizing the single pass production of multilayer constructs including metal/transparent conducting oxide (TCO) multilayers. Articles created from such methods are also disclosed. In particular, multilayer constructs are used as an electrochemical test strip, such as a biosensor, and will be described with particular reference thereto.

Claims

1. An electrochemical test strip comprising a multilayer construct including:

a substrate layer having a top surface and a bottom surface,

a metal conductor layer deposited onto the top surface of the substrate layer, and

a protective layer deposited onto a top surface of the conductor layer, wherein the protective layer is a transparent conducting oxide.

2. The multilayer construct of claim 1, wherein at least one pattern is formed on the metal conductor layer to form an electrode.

3. The multilayer construct of claim 2, wherein the at least one pattern is formed in-line by masked deposition, in-line by lithography, or off-line by laser ablation.

4. The multilayer construct of claim 2, wherein the at least one pattern is formed by placing a mask on the top surface of the substrate in a desired shape, wherein the mask covers the areas of the substrate on which the metal conductor layer is not to be deposited, and exposes areas on which the metal conductor layer is to be deposited followed by the deposition of the metal conductor layer to form an electrode.

5. The multilayer construct of claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the substrate layer is free of additional conductive layers.

6. The multilayer construct of claim 1, wherein the metal conductor layer is a pure metal or metal alloy.

7. The multilayer construct of claim 6, wherein the metal is a nickel-based alloy, a cobalt-based alloy, an indium-based alloy, or a tin-based alloy.

8. The multilayer construct of claim 1, wherein the transparent conducting oxide is selected from the group including indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin dioxide (SnO₂), cadmium oxide (CdO), tantalum oxide (Ta₂O), gallium indium oxide (GaInO₃), cadmium antimony oxide CdSb₂O₃), titanium dioxide (TiO₂), tungsten trioxide (WO₃), and molybdenum trioxide (MoO₃).

9. The multilayer construct of claim 1, further including a reagent layer deposited onto the protective transparent conducting oxide layer and an optional cover layer.

10. The multilayer construct of claim 1, wherein the substrate layer is a non-conductive polymer web.

11. The multilayer construct of claim 10, wherein the non-conductive polymer web is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polysulfone, nylon, polyurethane, cellulose nitrate, cellulose propionate, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, polyester, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and combinations thereof.

12. A method of forming an electrochemical test strip having a multilayer construct, comprising:

processing a surface of a substrate layer to obtain a processed substrate;

depositing a metal conductor layer onto the processed substrate, and

depositing a protective transparent conductive oxide layer onto the metal conductor layer.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the substrate surface is processed by plasma treatment.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the metal conductor layer and the protective transparent conductive oxide layer are deposited by AC reactive sputtering.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the AC reactive sputtering is produced by a dual rotary cathode.

16. The electrochemical test strip produced by the method of claim 13.

17. An apparatus for producing a multilayer construct for forming an electrochemical test strip at a high speed in a single pass comprising:

a rotary drum for unwinding a wound substrate layer,

a chamber having a metal sputtering zone, a TCO sputtering zone, and a seal between the metal sputtering zone and the TCO sputtering zone,

a dual cathode in the metal sputtering zone for depositing a thin film metal conductor layer on the substrate layer, and

a AC sputterer in the TCO sputtering zone for the high speed deposition of a TCO protective layer on the thin film metal conductor layer.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a measuring unit for in-line measuring of the optics and resistance of the multilayer construct.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising an RF pretreater for treating the substrate layer.

20. A system comprising:

an electrochemical test strip with

(1) a substrate layer having a top surface and a bottom surface;

(2) a metal conductor layer formed on the top surface of the substrate layer; and

(3) a protective layer deposited on top of the conductor layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide; and

a measuring device.