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Optoelectronics properties of tin-doped indium oxide films fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering in pure argon with post-annealing in oxygen atmosphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2015

Oleksandr Malik  and
Francisco Javier De la Hidalga-Wade
Oleksandr Malik*
Affiliation:
Electronics Department, Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), 72000 Puebla, Mexico
Francisco Javier De la Hidalga-Wade
Affiliation:
Electronics Department, Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), 72000 Puebla, Mexico
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

We report on the study of the characteristics of indium–tin oxide (ITO) films prepared by well-controlled and reproducible DC magnetron sputtering in argon with consequent annealing in oxygen atmosphere. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the ITO films were investigated. It was found that the films deposited in argon atmosphere with a commercial ITO target have low transparency and high resistivity. The lower value of the resistivity around 3 × 10−4 Ω cm and the higher value of the figure of merit of 7.4 × 10−3 Ω−1 for 200 nm thick films are obtained after postannealing the films at the optimal temperature T = 300 °C for 1 h. It was found experimentally that postannealing at different temperatures allows tuning effective work function of the ITO films in the range of 4.2–5.5 eV. The latter is an important issue for applications in optoelectronic devices. The fabrication method is useful for the fabrication of ITO films with high electro-optical parameters on flexible polyimide substrates.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 30 , Issue 12 , 28 June 2015 , pp. 1894 - 1901
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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References

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