Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of processing parameters on crystalline structure and optoelectronic behavior of DC sputtered ITO thin film

  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

DC magnetron sputtering technique has been used to deposit highly transparent and conducting films of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) onto externally unheated glass substrate, with and without annealing. The ITO thin films were obtained by varying the working pressure and the DC power as critical process parameters. The effects of variation of the deposition parameters on the deposition rate, microstructural, electrical, and optical properties have been investigated in this paper to study electro-optical characteristics of ITO films. The microstructural, electrical and optical properties of the sputtered ITO films were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, four probe electrical conductivity and optical spectroscopy. A minimum sheet resistance \(16 \,\varOmega\)/square and transmittance 85 % with a Haacke’s figure of merit \(12 \times {10^{ - 3}} \,{\varOmega ^{ - 1}}\), thickness of 230 nm and optical band gap 4.09 eV are obtained for the thin films grown on externally unheated substrate at 100 W DC power and 32 mTorr working pressure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Y.H. Tak, K.B. Kim, H.G. Park, K.H. Lee, J.R. Lee, Criteria for ITO (indiumtin-oxide) thin film as the bottom electrode of an organic light emitting diode. Thin Solid Films 411, 1216 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. J.B. Chu, S.M. Huang, H.B. Zhu, X.B. Xu, Z. Sun, Y.W. Chen, F.Q. Huang, Preparation of indium tin oxide thin films without external heating for application in solar cells. J. Non Cryst. Solids 354, 54805484 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. H.L. Hartnagel, A.L. Dawar, A.K. Jain, C. Jagadish, Semiconducting Transparent Thin Films (Institute of Physics, Bristol, 1995)

    Google Scholar 

  4. W.F. Wu, B.S. Chiou, S.T. Hsieh, Effect of sputtering power on the structural and optical properties of RF magnetron sputtered ITO films’. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 9, 12421249 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  5. S.M. Rozati, T. Ganj, Transparent conductive Sn-doped indium oxide thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis technique. Renew. Energy 29, 1671–1676 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. A. ElHichou, A. Kachouane, J.L. Bubendroff, M. Addou, J. Ebothe, M. Troyon, A. Bougrine, Effect of substrate temperature on electrical, structural, optical and cathodoluminescent properties of In2O3-Sn thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis. Thin Solid Films 458, 263 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. M.J. Alam, D.C. Cameron, Optical and electrical properties of transparent conductive ITO thin films deposited by solgel process. Thin Solid Films 377, 455–459 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. V. Craciun, D. Craciun, X. Wang, T.J. Anderson, R.K. Singh, Highly conducting indium tin oxide films grown by ultraviolet-assisted pulsed laser deposition at low temperatures. Thin Solid Films 453454, 256 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. S. Mostafa, Hosseinpour-Mashkani, Majid Ramezani, Ali Sobhani-Nasab, Mahdiyeh Esmaeili-ZareSynthesis, ’characterization, and morphological control of CaCu3Ti4O12 through modify sol–gel method’. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 26, 6086–6091 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. S.M. Hosseinpour-Mashkani, M. Maddahfar, A. Sobhani-Nasab, Precipitation synthesis, characterization, morphological, control, and photocatalyst application of ZnWO4 nanoparticles. J. Electron. Mater. 45, 3612 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. S.M. Hosseinpour-Mashkani, M. Maddahfar, A. Sobhani-Nasab, Novel silver-doped CdMoO4: synthesis, characterization, and its photocatalytic performance for methyl orange degradation through the sonochemical method. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 27, 474–480 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. S. Mostafa Hosseinpour-mashkani, Ali Sobhani-Nasab, Meraat Mehrzad, Controlling the synthesis SrMoO4 nanostructures and investigation its photocatalyst application. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 27, 5758–5763 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. C. Viespe, I. Nicolae, C. Sima, C. Grigoriu, R. Medianu, ITO thin films deposited by advanced pulsed laser deposition. Thin Solid Films 515, 8771–8775 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. F.O. Adurodija, H. Izumi, T. Ishihara, H. Yoshioka, M. Motoyama, Effects of stress on the structure of indium-tin oxide thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 12, 57–61 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. S.Q. Hussain, W.K. Oh, S. Ahn, A.H.T. Le, S. Kim, Y. Lee, J. Yi, RF magnetron sputtered indium tin oxide films with high transmittance and work function for a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells. Vacuum 101, 18–21 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. S.T. Hwang, C.B. Park, Jalakanuru Nageswararao, ’The electrical and optical properties of al-doped ZnO films sputtered in an Ar: H 2 gas radio frequency magnetron sputtering system’. Trans. Electr. Electron. Mater. 11, 81–84 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. M. Nisha, K.A. Vanaja, K.C. Sanal, K.J. Saji, P.M. Aneesh, M.K. Jayaraj, Growth of ITO thin films on polyimide substrate by bias sputtering. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 13, 64–69 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. W.-K. Oh, S. Ahn, A.H.T. Le, S. Kim, S.M. Iftiquar, S. Velumani, Y. Lee, J. Yi, Highly transparent RF magnetron-sputtered indium tin oxide films for a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells amorphous/ crystalline silicon. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 24, 225–230 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. B.-S. Chiou, J.-H. Lee, Etching of r.f. magnetron-sputtered indium tin oxide films. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 7, 241–246 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. H.R. Fallah, M. Ghasemi, A. Hassanzadeh, H. Steki, The effect of annealing on structural, electrical and optical properties of nanostructured ITO films prepared by e-beam evaporation. Mater. Res. Bull. 42, 487 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. M.G. Varnamkhasti, V. Soleimanian, Microstructure, electrical and optoelectronic characterizations of transparent conductive nanocrystalline In2O3: Sn thin films. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 26, 3223–3230 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. T. Minami, Transparent conducting oxide semiconductors for transparent electrodes. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 20, 35 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. L. Wei, C. Shuying, Photoelectric properties of ITO thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering. J. Semicond. 32, 013002 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. W.K. Oh, S.Q. Hussain, Y.J. Lee, Y. Lee, S. Ahn, J. Yi, Study on the ITO work function and hole injection barrier at the interface of ITO/a-Si:H(p) in amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Mater. Res. Bull. 47, 3032–3035 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. X. Jiwen, Z. Yang, H. Wang, X. Huarui, X. Zhang, Effect of growth temperature and coating cycles on structural, electrical, optical properties and stability of ITO films deposited by magnetron sputtering. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 21, 104–110 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. S. Marikkannu, M. Kashif, N. Sethupathy, V.S. Vidhya, Shakkthivel Piraman, A. Ayeshamariam, M. Bououdina, Naser M. Ahmed, M. Jayachandran, Effect of substrate temperature on indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films deposited by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis and solar cell application. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 27, 562–568 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Y. Chen, Y. Zhou, Q. Zhang, M. Zhu, F. Liu, The correlation between preferred orientation and performance of ITO thin films. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 18, S411S414 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  28. A. MohammadiGheidari, F. Behafarid, G. Kavei, M. Kazemzad, Effect of sputtering pressure and annealing temperature on the properties of indium tin oxide thin films. Mater. Sci. Eng. B 136, 37–40 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. M. Marikkannan, M. Subramanian, J. Mayandi, M. Tanemura, V. Vishnukanthan, J.M. Pearce, Effect of ambient combinations of argon, oxygen, and hydrogen on the properties of DC magnetron sputtered indium tin oxide films. AIP Adv. 5, 017128 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. S. Luo, S. Kohiki, K. Okada, F. Shoji, T. Shishido, ’Hydrogen effects on crystallinity, photoluminescence, and magnetization of indium tin oxide thin films sputter-deposited on glass substrate without heat treatment’. Phys. Status Solidi A 207, 386–390 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Youn J. Kim, SuB Jin, Sung I. Kim, Yoon S. Choi, In S. Choi, Jeon G. Han, ’Effect of oxygen flow rate on ITO thin films deposited by facing targets sputtering’. Thin Solid Films 518, 6241–6244 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. K. Okada, S. Kohiki, S. Luo, D. Sekiba, S. Ishii, M. Mitome, A. Kohno, T. Tajiri, F. Shoji, Correlation between resistivity and oxygen vacancy of hydrogen-doped indium tin oxide thin films. Thin Solid Films 519, 3557–3561 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. A. El-Hady, B. Kashyout, M. Fathy, M.B. Soliman, ’Studying the properties of RF-Sputtered Nanocrystalline tin-doped indium oxide’, Int. J. Photoenergy (2011)

  34. S. Song, T. Yang, J. Liu, Y. Xin, Y. Li, S. Han, Rapid thermal annealing of ITO films. Appl. Surf. Sci. 257, 7061–7064 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. S. Wang, J. Zhang, B. Wang, L. Feng, Y. Cai, L. Wu, W. Li, Z. Lei, B. Li, ’The effect of post-annealing under CdCl2 atmosphere on the properties of ITO thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering’. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 21, 441–444 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. M. Gulen, G. Yildirim, S. Bal, A. Varilci, I. Belenli, M. Oz, Role of annealing temperature on microstructural and electro-optical properties of ITO films produced by sputtering. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 24, 467–474 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. G. Zhu, Z. Yang, Effect of sputtering power and annealing temperature on the properties of indium tin oxide thin films prepared from radio frequency sputtering using powder target. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 24, 3646–3651 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. S.D. Senol, A. Senol, O. Ozturk, M. Erdem, Effect of annealing time on the structural, optical and electrical characteristics of DC sputtered ITO thin films. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 25, 4992–4999 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. C.V.R. Vasantkumar, A. Mansingh, Effect of target-substrate distance on the growth and properties of rf-sputtered indium tin oxide films. J. Appl. Phys. 65, 1270–1280 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. D. Wan, P. Chen, J. Liang, S. Li, F. Huang, ’Orientation preference of transparent conducting In2O3: Sn films and its formation mechanism’. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 3, 4751–4755 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. J Gwamuri, M Marikkannan, J Mayandi, PK. Bowen, JM. Pearce, Influence of oxygen concentration on the performance of ultra-thin RF magnetron sputter deposited indium tin oxide films as a top electrode for photovoltaic devices. Materials 9, 63 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Y. Shigesato, S. Takaki, T. Haranoh, Electrical and structural properties of low resistivity tin-doped indium oxide films. J. Appl. Phys. 71, 3356 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. D.K. Shroder, Semiconductor Material and Device Characterization (Wiley, New York, 1990)

    Google Scholar 

  44. J.I. Parkove, Optical Process in Semiconductors (Dover Publications Inc, New York, 1971)

    Google Scholar 

  45. G. Haacke, New figure of merit for transparent conductors. J. Appl. Phys. 47, 4086 (1976)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. S. Luo, S. Kohiki, K. Okada, F. Shoji, T. Shishido, Hydrogen effects on crystallinity, photoluminescence, and magnetization of indium tin oxide thin films sputter-deposited on glass substrate without heat treatment. Appl. Mater. Sci. 207, 386–390 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  47. S.I. Jun, T.E. McKnight, M.L. Simpson, P.D. Rack, A statistical parameter study of indium tin oxide thin films deposited by radio-frequency sputtering. Thin Solid Films 476, 59 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Y.J. Kim, S.B. Jin, S.I. Kim, Y.S. Choi, I.S. Choi, J.G. Han, Effect of oxygen flow rate on ITO thin films deposited by facing targets sputtering. Thin Solid Films 518, 6241–6244 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. A.J. Leenheer, J.D. Perkins, M.F.A.M. van Hest, J.J. Berry, R.P. OHayre, D.S. Ginley, ’General mobility and carrier concentration relationship in transparent amorphous indium zinc oxide films’. Phys. Rev. B 77, 115215 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Khuzestan Regional Electric Company, Ahvaz, Iran.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

    M. Shakiba, A. Kosarian & E. Farshidi

Authors
  1. M. Shakiba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Kosarian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. Farshidi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Shakiba.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shakiba, M., Kosarian, A. & Farshidi, E. Effects of processing parameters on crystalline structure and optoelectronic behavior of DC sputtered ITO thin film. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 787–797 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-5591-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-5591-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation