Market demand for transparent heaters is growing, especially in the automotive industry with the advance of autonomous cars with ADAS systems and EVs with full smart glass exteriors. Vehicles currently use a micro-wire heater technology embedded in automotive windshields, headlights and camera sensors for de-icing and de-fogging application during winter or harsh weather conditions. Some disadvantages of the micro-wire technology include its visibility to human eye, uneven heating and obstruction to camera and LIDAR sensors inside your vehicles ADAS systems. A defect at any single point in the micro wire can lead to the failure of the entire heating system. This talk will outline CHASM's transparent hybrid heater technology known as AgeNT, against the micro-wire system. AgeNT is made from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) printed over silver (Ag) nanowires or metal mesh thin films that are transparent, flexible and formable, while providing uniform and faster heating results. This talk will describe the basic technology to achieve a range of performance, depending on power density, target surface temperatures, and optical transparency to achieve automotive de-icing requirements. The low cost printing manufacturing process used and various downstream processes will be described to enable integration to a glass windshield or plastic head light lens using simple lamination or injection molding (IME) manufacturing processes. Heaters can be fully covered prints or etched patterns based on design requirements for LIDAR or Radar sensors respectively. Finally, results of mechanical flexibility and environmental stability will be presented along field performance when used with LIDAR or Radar sensors.
