I.T.O. (Indium Tin Oxide) has traditionally been the main material used in p-cap touch screens. However, due to recent trends such as extra large and curved touchscreens, metal mesh’s market share has gained momentum. So, we’ll examine how ITO compares to one of most common ITO alternatives, metal mesh.
With the introduction of foldable phones, metal mesh has been on the spotlight again. Foldable phones are the chance for ITO alternatives to find their way into consumer’s pockets. Metal mesh is renowned for its ability to fold and is rumoured to have been used in Samsung’s foldable phone.
ITO still has the upper hand as far as market share is concerned. That is mainly due to the clever pricing tactics of its suppliers. Also, ITO alternatives have adopted slowly since manufacturers are hesitant to invest in new manufacturing techniques that support it.
With that being said, Metal Mesh is the front runner of ITO alternatives. Its physical properties make it a superior material for most emerging capacitive touch screen applications.
In the following infographic, you can compare the two materials’ main characteristics and applications based on rules of thumb.
If you’re looking for more specific, hard data on ITO alternatives, you can download Fieldscale & PolyIC’s research paper “Metal mesh vs ITO in projective-capacitive touch screens” which can be found here.
As you can see, metal mesh is the future of capacitive touch sensors!
Metal mesh is one of the ITO alternatives that is supported by our simulation tool, SENSE. If you want to simulate your capacitive touch sensor that features metal mesh electrodes, you can do so in minutes!
Setting up your design in SENSE is simple and intuitive. SENSE can simulate touch sensors with metal mesh electrodes in unparalleled simulation speeds.
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