Abstract: A transparent element for the uniform heating of a glass substrate includes: a heating member which is located on one surface of a glass substrate, the heating member including a thin, electrically conductive transparent film; and a thin, transparent antireflection coating applied to the surface of the electrically conductive transparent film. A method of forming a transparent heater for glass cells employed in spectroscopy or signal detection experiments includes the steps of coating a glass cell with first a transparent electrically conductive film; and coating the coated glass cell with a transparent antireflection coating. In a preferred embodiment, the conductive first transparent layer includes indium oxide containing approximately nine molar percent tin oxide and the second antireflection layer includes a highly transparent insulating material such as magnesium fluoride, which has a refractive index that is lower than the refractive index of the glass substrate.