Structural, electrical and optical properties of radio frequency sputtered indium tin oxide thin films modified by annealing in silicon oil and vacuum

• Published in: Thin solid films 2014-04, Vol.556, p.253-259
• Main Authors: Chauhan, Ram Narayan, Anand, R.S., Kumar, Jitendra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Electrical property; Electron paramagnetic resonance; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic transport phenomena in thin films and low-dimensional structures; Exact sciences and technology; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Optical properties of specific thin films; Optical transmittance; Physics; R.F. sputtering; Structure and morphology; thickness; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Thin film structure and morphology; Thin films
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2014.02.023

Indium tin oxide thin films (thickness ~300nm) have been deposited on glass at the substrate temperature of 65°C by radio frequency magnetron sputtering with the power density of 1.25Wcm−2 under argon atmosphere and annealed subsequently in silicon oil at 200° and 350°C to investigate systematically the effects on their structural, optical and electrical properties. As-deposited thin films after annealing at 350°C exhibit marked changes in the microstructure with emergence of crystallites (average size ~51nm), high optical transmittance (~86%) in the visible range, and electrical resistivity as low as 1.24×10−3Ω-cm with high figure of merit of 5.35×10−3Ω−1 square — indicating their suitability as transparent conducting anode for opto-electronic devices. Further, the above findings are compared with those observed in case of films annealed in vacuum (~4×10−4Pa) at 350°C. •ITO thin films have been deposited using RF sputtering at argon gas pressure of 0.1Pa.•The ITO films are annealed in silicon oil at different temperatures and characterized.•The ITO films annealed at 350°C in silicon oil and vacuum are compared.•The ITO annealed at 350°C is better than TCOs for making optoelectronic devices.•Silicon oil annealing is a cheap way to improve the properties of ITO.