Conductive and transparent multilayer thin films consisting of three alternating layers (TiO₂/Ag/SiO₂, TAS) have been fabricated for applications as transparent conducting oxides. Metal oxide and metal layers were prepared by electron-beam evaporation with ion-assisted deposition, and the optical and electrical properties of the resulting films as well as their energy bounding characteristics and microstructures were carefully investigated. The optical properties of the obtained TAS material were compared with those of well-known transparent metal oxide glasses such as ZnO/Ag/ZnO, TiO₂/Ag/TiO₂, ZnO/Cu/ZnO, and ZnO/Al/ZnO. The weathering resistance of the TAS film was improved by using a protective SiO₂ film as the uppermost layer. The transmittance spectra and sheet resistance of the material were carefully measured and analyzed as a function of the layer thickness. By properly adjusting the thickness of the metal and dielectric films, a low sheet resistance of 6.5 ohm/sq and a high average transmittance of over 89% in the 400 to 700 nm wavelength regions were achieved. We found that the Ag layer played a significant role in determining the optical and electrical properties of this film.

High absorptivity and low emissivity are characteristics needed in an ideal solar selective absorber. In high-temperature applications, such as a solar concentration power system in which the solar surface works under a long-term high temperature (about 400 to 800 °C), the absorber material has to maintain high absorption in the visible region, high reflectance in the infrared region, and excellent thermal stability at high temperature. In this research, the design of a molybdenum-based (Mo-based) solar selective absorber was analyzed by the admittance locus method, and the films were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The ratio of the extinction coefficient to the refractive index of the Mo layer was close to 1, so that the Mo-based solar selective absorber had a broad absorption band, high absorption, and good solar selectivity. Its average reflectance in the visible region was less than 0.4%. The experimental absorption was 97.1% (simulated absorption was 98%) and the emissivity was from 13% to 20% (simulated emissivity was 8% to 26%) as the temperature increased from 400 to 800 °C.

One of the methods used to obtain notch filters involves one or several gradient index layers. In this method, the indices are decreased and then increased step by step to create a sinusoidal-like gradient layer. This paper reports a sinusoidal-like gradient layer fabrication method based on solid state diffusion. Al₂O₃/MgO/Al₂O₃ (AMA) was deposited by electron beam evaporation and then post-annealed at 800 °C for 4 h. Through inner diffusion, the MgO layers became a low refractive index material with a porous structure (the average refractive index was 1.55) such that the MgAl₂O₄ spinel was formed as an inhomogeneous layer with an average refractive index of 1.69. This allowed simply using a structured multilayer, (Al₂O₃/MgO)⁸ Al₂O₃, and post-annealing to form a sinusoidal-like gradient layer for a UV notch filter.