Properties of tin doped indium oxide thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

TLDR

The authors fabricated ITO films by magnetron sputtering from a 9:1 In₂O₃/SnO₂ target and characterized their electrical, thermoelectric, Hall, optical, and band‑gap properties, also examining the influence of air and vacuum annealing. Optimized deposition yielded ITO films with ~90 % optical transmission and resistivity as low as 10⁻⁵ Ω cm, and 10⁻⁴ Ω cm for ~1000 Å films deposited at 50 °C without oxygen.

Abstract

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films have been prepared by the magnetron sputtering technique from a target of a mixture of In2O3 and SnO2 in the proportion 9:1 by weight. By optimizing the deposition conditions it has been possible to produce highly transparent (transmission ∼90%) and conducting (resistivity ∼10−5 Ω cm) ITO films. A resistivity ∼10−4 Ω cm has been obtained for films of thickness ∼1000 Å at a comparatively low substrate temperature of 50 °C and without using oxygen in the sputtering chamber. To characterize the films, the following properties have been studied, viz., electrical conductivity, thermoelectric power, Hall effect, optical transmission, and band gap. The effect of annealing in air and vacuum on the properties of the films have also been studied.