Pulsed Laser Deposition of Transparent Conducting Indium Tin Oxide Films in Magnetic Field Perpendicular to Plume

Abstract

In 2 O 3 doped with 5 wt% SnO 2 (indium-tin oxide(ITO)(5 wt%)) films have been deposited on glass and quartz substrates in a magnetic field generated from three pieces of rare–earth permanent magnets (1.25 T flux density) placed at every 120° angle to surround the plume produced by pulsed laser deposition using an ArF laser (λ=193 nm). In all experiments, a repetition rate of 10 Hz, an energy density of 1.5 J/cm 2 , and an irradiation time of 20–30 min (12000–18000 shots) were used. The lowest resistivity of 7.2×10 -5 Ω·cm and an optical transmittance of more than 90% in the visible region of the spectrum were obtained for approximately 30-nm-thick ITO (5 wt%) films deposited at a substrate temperature of 300°C in oxygen with a flow rate of 2 sccm. Very smooth surfaces with an average surface roughness of 0.61 nm were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM).