Low resistivity indium tin oxide films deposited by unbalanced DC magnetron sputtering

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films are prepared on soda lime glass by a DC magnetron sputtering technique having the unbalanced-magnet structure to escape from surface damages. The material properties are measured by the X-ray diffraction meter (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) scanning. As a result, the (400) peak as the preferred orientation of [100] direction for ITO thin films is stabilized with the increase of substrate temperature. The surface roughness and film uniformity with a increase of substrate temperature is improved. The best resistivity is 1.3 x 10(-4) Ohm cm on the position of 4 cm from substrate center. Hall mobility and carrier concentration of the ITO thin films are increased with a rising of temperature. The visible light transmission is around 85% at ITO films of 550 nm thickness. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.