Effects of Post-Annealing on Crystallization and Electrical Behaviors of ITO Thin Films Sputtered on PES Substrates

The effects of annealing on structural and electrical properties of ITO/PES (Indium Tin Oxide/Polyethersulfone) films was investigated. Amorphous ITO thin films were grown on plastic substrates, PES using low temperature DC magnetron sputtering. Various post annealing techniques were attempted to research variations of microstructure and electrical properties : i) conventional thermal annealing, ii) excimer laser annealing, iii) UV irradiation. The electrical properties were obtained using Hall effect measurements and DC 4-point resistance measurement. The microstructural features were characterized by FESEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy in terms of morphology and crystallinity. Optimized UV treatment exhibits the enhanced conductivity and crystallinity, compared to those of conventional thermal annealing.