Electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide thin films deposited on unheated substrates by d.c. reactive sputtering

• Published in: Thin solid films 1993-01, Vol.223 (1), p.135-139
• Main Authors: Karasawa, T., Miyata, Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electrical properties of specific thin films; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Exact sciences and technology; Physics
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/0040-6090(93)90737-A

Transparent conducting thin films of indium tin oxide (ITO) have been deposited by d.c. reactive planar magnetron sputtering by using metal InSn alloy target in an ArO 2 gas mixture. The study demonstrates that the deposition on unheated substrates achieved sheet resistance of as low as about 50–60 Ω/□ (or a resistivity of abouts 7 × 10 −4 Ω cm), and visible transmission of about 90% for a wavelength of 420 nm. The effects of heat treatment at 450 °C in air depends on the deposition conditions of the as-deposited ITO films. Although annealing improves the properties of as-deposited ITO films which were deposited with non-optimum conditions, the optimized condition for the formation of the film in the as-deposited state is essential to obtain a high quality transparent conducting coating.