Structural, electrical and optical properties of ITO films with a thin TiO2 seed layer prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

Tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on TiO₂-coated glass substrates (the TiO₂ layer is usually called seed layer). The properties of ITO films prepared at a substrate temperature of 300 °C on bare and TiO₂-coated glass substrates have been analyzed by using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscope, optical and electrical measurements. Comparing with single layer ITO film, the ITO film with a TiO₂ seed layer of 2 nm has a remarkable 41.2% decrease in resistivity and similar optical transmittance. The glass/TiO₂ (2 nm)/ITO film achieved shows a resistivity of 3.37 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and an average transmittance of 93.1% in the visible range. The glass/TiO₂ may be a better substrate compared with bare glass for depositing high quality ITO films.     

Influence of post-annealing temperature on the properties exhibited by ITO, IZO and GZO thin films

In this work we present a study on the effect of annealing temperatures on the structural, morphological, electrical and optical characteristics of gallium doped zinc oxide (GZO), indium zinc oxide (IZO) and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films. GZO and IZO films were deposited at room temperature by r.f. magnetron sputtering, whereas the ITO films were commercial ones purchased from Balzers. All films were annealed at temperatures of 250 and 500 °C in open air for 1 h. The GZO and ITO films were polycrystalline. The amorphous structure of as-deposited IZO films becomes crystalline on high temperature annealing (500 °C). The sheet resistivity increased with increase in annealing temperature. GZO films showed an increase of 6 orders of magnitude. The optical transmittance and band gap of as-deposited films varied with annealing. The highest transmittance (over 95 %) and maximum band gap (3.93 eV) have been obtained for ITO films.     

Inkjet-printing of indium tin oxide (ITO) films for transparent conducting electrodes

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films have been prepared by inkjet-printing using ITO nanoparticle inks. The electrical and optical properties of the ITO films were investigated in order to understand the effects of annealing temperatures under microwave. The decrease in the sheet resistance and resistivity of the inkjet-printed ITO films was observed as the annealing temperature increases. The film annealed at 400 °C showed the sheet resistance of 517 Ω/sq with the film thickness of ∼580 nm. The optical transmittance of the films remained constant regardless of their annealing temperatures. In order to further reduce the sheet resistance of the films, Ag-grid was printed in between two layers of inkjet-printed ITO. With 3 mm Ag-grid line-to-line pitch, the Ag-grid inserted ITO film has the sheet resistance of 3.4 Ω/sq and the transmittance of 84% after annealing at 200 °C under microwave.     

Properties of indium tin oxide films deposited on unheated polymer substrates by ion beam assisted deposition

The optical, electrical and mechanical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) films prepared on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by ion beam assisted deposition at room temperature were investigated. The properties of ITO films can be improved by introducing a buffer layer of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) between the ITO film and the PET substrate. ITO films deposited on SiO₂-coated PET have better crystallinity, lower electrical resistivity, and improved resistance stability under bending than those deposited on bare PET. The average transmittance and the resistivity of ITO films deposited on SiO₂-coated PET are 85% and 0.90 × 10^− 3 Ω cm, respectively, and when the films are bent, the resistance remains almost constant until a bending radius of 1 cm and it increases slowly under a given bending radius with an increase of the bending cycles. The improved resistance stability of ITO films deposited on SiO₂-coated PET is mainly attributed to the perfect adhesion of ITO films induced by the SiO₂ buffer layer.     

Growth and characterization of indium tin oxide thin films deposited on PET substrates

Transparent and conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by d.c. magnetron sputtering as the front and back electrical contact for applications in flexible displays and optoelectronic devices. In addition, ITO powder was used for sputter target in order to reduce the cost and time of the film formation processes. As the sputtering power and pressure increased, the electrical conductivity of ITO films decreased. The films were increasingly dark gray colored as the sputtering power increased, resulting in the loss of transmittance of the films. When the pressure during deposition was higher, however, the optical transmittance improved at visible region of light. ITO films deposited onto PET have shown similar optical transmittance and electrical resistivity, in comparison with films onto glass substrate. High quality films with resistivity as low as 2.5 × 10^− 3 Ω cm and transmittance over 80% have been obtained on to PET substrate by suitably controlling the deposition parameters.     

Characteristics of ITO films with oxygen plasma treatment for thin film solar cell applications

The influence of oxygen plasma treatment on the electro-optical and structural properties of indium-tin-oxide films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method were investigated. The films were exposed at different O₂ plasma powers and for various durations by using the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. The resistivity of the ITO films was almost constant, regardless of the plasma treatment conditions. Although the optical transmittance of ITO films was little changed by the plasma power, the prolonged treatment slightly increased the transmittance. The work function of ITO film was changed from 4.67 eV to 5.66 eV at the plasma treatment conditions of 300 W and 60 min.     

The properties of heterojunction based on CuI/pentacene/Al

To improve the injection of charge carriers from ITO electrode into the molecular semiconductor in the pentacene-based photovoltaic structures, we propose introducing an additional transport copper iodide (CuI) layer with high conductivity. The organic flexible barrier based on ITO/CuI/pentacene/Al was fabricated using flexible polyethyleneterephtalate substrate with conductive ITO layer by vacuum deposition technique. CuI films, annealed at the temperature of 523 K, exhibited optical transmittance ∼80% in the wavelength range 400-900 nm, minimum resistivity about 1.8 × 10³ Ω/sq, and developed surface. They were used for fabrication of photosensitive barrier structure on the basis of pentacene.     

Properties of indium tin oxide films deposited using High Target Utilisation Sputtering

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on soda lime glass and polyimide substrates using an innovative process known as High Target Utilisation Sputtering (HiTUS). The influence of the oxygen flow rate, substrate temperature and sputtering pressure, on the electrical, optical and thermal stability properties of the films was investigated. High substrate temperature, medium oxygen flow rate and moderate pressure gave the best compromise of low resistivity and high transmittance. The lowest resistivity was 1.6 × 10^− 4 Ω cm on glass while that on the polyimide was 1.9 × 10^− 4 Ω cm. Substrate temperatures above 100 °C were required to obtain visible light transmittance exceeding 85% for ITO films on glass. The thermal stability of the films was mainly influenced by the oxygen flow rate and thus the initial degree of oxidation. The film resistivity was either unaffected or reduced after heating in vacuum but generally increased for oxygen deficient films when heated in air. The greatest increase in transmittance of oxygen deficient films occurred for heat treatment in air while that of the highly oxidised films was largely unaffected by heating in both media. This study has demonstrated the potential of HiTUS as a favourable deposition method for high quality ITO suitable for use in thin film solar cells.     

Effects of heat treatment on properties of ITO films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on glass substrates by rf magnetron sputtering using a ceramic target (In₂O₃-SnO₂, 90-10 wt%) without extra heating. The post annealing was done in air and in vacuum, respectively. The effects of annealing on the structure, surface morphology, optical and electrical properties of the ITO films were studied. The results show that the increase of the annealing temperature improves the crystallinity of the films, increases the surface roughness, and improves the optical and electrical properties. The transmittance of the films in visible region is increased over 90% after the annealing process in air or in vacuum. The resistivity of the films deposited is about 8.125×10⁻⁴ Ω cm and falls down to 2.34×10⁻⁴ Ω cm as the annealing temperature is increased to 500°C in vacuum. Compared with the results of the ITO films annealed in air, the properties of the films annealed in vacuum is better.     

Optical properties of porous anodic aluminum oxide thin films on quartz substrates

Porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) thin films on quartz substrates were fabricated via evaporation of a 100-nm thick Al, followed by anodization with different durations and pore widening and Al removal by chemical etching. The transmittance and reflectance of AAO films on quartz substrates were measured by optical spectrophotometry. The microstructure and morphology were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The pore diameter of AAO films after pore widening and Al removal is 60 ± 4 nm and the interpore distance is 88 ± 5 nm. It is found that the reflectance decreases and the transmittance increases with the increase of the anodization time and pore widening. Compared to a bare substrate, the transmittance of AAO films after pore widening and Al removal is about 3.0% higher, while the reflectance is about 3.0% lower over a wide wavelength range. Additionally, after pore widening and Al removal, when AAO films are prepared on both sides of the quartz substrate, the highest transmittance is about 99.0% in the wavelength range 570-680 nm. The optical constants and thickness of AAO films after pore widening and Al removal were retrieved from normal incidence transmittance data. Results show that the refractive index is lower than 1.25 in the visible optical region and that the porosity is about 0.70.     

Effect of the oxygen flow on the properties of ITO thin films deposited by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD)

ITO films were deposited onto glass substrates by ion beam assisted deposition method. The oxygen ions were produced using a Kaufman ion source. The oxygen flow was varied from 20 until 60 sccm and the effect of the oxygen flow on properties of ITO films has been studied. The structural properties of the film were characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The optical properties were characterized by optical transmission measurements and the optical constants (refractive index n and extinction coefficient k) and film thickness have been obtained by fitting the transmittance using a semi-quantum model. The electrical properties were characterized by Hall effect measurements. It has been found that the ITO film with low electrical resistivity and high transmittance can be obtained with 40 sccm oxygen flow (the working pressure is about 2.3 × 10^− 2 Pa at this oxygen flow).     

Investigation of low resistance transparent MoO3/Ag/MoO3 multilayer and application as anode in organic solar cells

Depending on the resistivity and transmittance, transparent conductive oxides (TCO) are widely used in thin film optoelectronic devices. Thus doped In₂O₃ (ITO), ZnO, SnO₂ are commercially developed. However, the deposition process of these films need sputtering and/or heating cycle, which has negative effect on the performances of the organic devices due to the sputtering and heat damages. Therefore a thermally evaporable, low resistance, transparent electrode, deposited onto substrates room temperature, has to be developed to overcome these difficulties. For these reasons combination of dielectric materials and metal multilayer has been proposed to achieve high transparent conductive oxides. In this work the different structures probed were: MoO₃ (45 nm)/Ag (x nm)/MoO₃ (37.5 nm), with x = 5-15 nm. The measure of the electrical conductivity of the structures shows that there is a threshold value of the silver thickness: below 10 nm the films are semiconductor, from 10 nm and above the films are conductor. However, the transmittance of the structures decreases with the silver thickness, therefore the optimum Ag thickness is 10 nm. A structure MoO₃ (45 nm)/Ag (10 nm)/MoO₃ (37.5 nm) resulted with a resistivity of 8 × 10^− 5 Ω cm and a transmittance, at around 600 nm, of 80%. Such multilayer structure can be used as anode in organic solar cells according to the device anode/CuPc/C₆₀/Alq₃/Al. We have already shown that when the anode of the cells is an ITO film the introduction of a thin (3 nm) MoO₃ layer at the interface anode (ITO)/organic electron donor (CuPc) allows reducing the energy barrier due to the difference between the work function of ITO and the highest occupied molecular orbital of CuPc [1]. This property has been used in the present work to achieve a high hole transfer efficiency between the CuPc and the anode. For comparison MoO₃/Ag/MoO₃/CuPc/C₆₀/Alq₃/Al and ITO/MoO₃/CuPc/C₆₀/Alq3/Al solar cells have been deposited in the same run. These devices exhibit efficiency of the same order of magnitude.     

Preparation of aluminum doped zinc oxide films and the study of their microstructure, electrical and optical properties

Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) polycrystalline thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip-coating process on optical glass substrates. Zinc acetate solutions of 0.5 M in isopropanol stabilized by diethanolamine and doped with a concentrated solution of aluminum nitrate in ethanol were used. The content of aluminum in the sol was varied from 1 to 3 at.%. Crystalline ZnO thin films were obtained following an annealing process at temperatures between 300 °C and 500 °C for 1 h. The coatings have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-Visible spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, and electrical resistance measurement. The ZnO:Al thin films are transparent (∼ 90%) in near ultraviolet and visible regions. With the annealing temperature increasing from 300 °C to 500 °C, the film was oriented more preferentially along the (0 0 2) direction, the grain size of the film increased, the transmittance also became higher and the electrical resistivity decreased. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed single-phase ZnO hexagonal wurtzite structure. The best conductors were obtained for the AZO films containing 1 at.% of Al, annealed at 500 °C, 780 nm film thickness.     

Effect of post-annealing on the optoelectronic properties of ZnO:Ga films prepared by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

In this study, highly conductive films of ZnO:Ga (GZO) were deposited by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering to explore the effect of post-annealing on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the films. XRD patterns showed that after annealing, the intensity of c-axis preferentially oriented GZO (002) peak was apparently improved. GZO film annealing at 300 °C for 0.5 h exhibits lowest resistivity of 1.36 × 10^− 4 Ω cm. In addition, the film shows good optical transmittance of 88% with optical band gap, 3.82 eV. Carrier concentration and optical band gap both decreases with the annealing temperature. Besides, the near-infrared transmittance at 1400 nm is below 5%, while the reflectivity at 2400 nm is as high as 70%.     

Characterization of ITO/CdO/glass thin films evaporated by electron beam technique

A thin buffer layer of cadmium oxide (CdO) was used to enhance the optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) films prepared by an electron-beam evaporation technique. The effects of the thickness and heat treatment of the CdO layer on the structural, optical and electrical properties of ITO films were carried out. It was found that the CdO layer with a thickness of 25 nm results in an optimum transmittance of 70% in the visible region and an optimum resistivity of 5.1×10⁻³ Ω cm at room temperature. The effect of heat treatment on the CdO buffer layer with a thickness of 25 nm was considered to improve the optoelectronic properties of the formed ITO films. With increasing annealing temperature, the crystallinity of ITO films seemed to improve, enhancing some physical properties, such as film transmittance and conductivity. ITO films deposited onto a CdO buffer layer heated at 450 °C showed a maximum transmittance of 91% in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum associated with the highest optical energy gap of 3.61 eV and electrical resistivity of 4.45×10⁻⁴ Ω cm at room temperature. Other optical parameters, such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric constant, dispersion energy, single effective oscillator energy, packing density and free carrier concentration, were also studied.     

Influence of deposition parameters and heat treatment on the NO2 sensing properties of nanostructured indium tin oxide thin film

Highly oriented and transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) films have been deposited onto glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at 648 K, under an oxygen partial pressure of 1 Pa. The effect of the sputtering power and annealing was studied. Transmission was measured with a double beam spectrometer and electrical analysis using four probe and Hall effect setup. Structural characterization of the films was done by X-ray diffraction. Characterization of the coatings revealed an electrical resistivity below 6.5 × 10^− 3 Ω cm. The ITO films deposited at 648 K were amorphous, while the crystallinity improved after annealing at 700 K. The optical transmittance of the film was more than 80% in the visible region. The surface morphology examined by scanning electron microscopy appears to be uniform over the entire surface area, after annealing. The NO₂ sensing properties of the ITO films were investigated. At a working temperature of 600 K, the ITO sensor showed high sensitivity to NO₂ gas, at concentrations lower than 50 ppm.     

Electrical and optical properties of ITO:Ca composite thin films for TEOLED cathode

ITO:Ca composite thin films were deposited on glass substrate by the rf magnetron co-sputtering method with various numbers of Ca chips and oxygen partial pressures. The carrier concentration of the ITO:Ca thin film was 7 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 when the number of Ca chips was 4 at an oxygen partial pressure of 1.4%. The sheet resistance and optical transmittance of the ITO:Ca thin films were 68.2 Ω/sq. and 87%, respectively. The work function of the ITO:Ca thin films with 8 Ca chips was changed from 4.6 eV to 5.0 eV when the oxygen partial pressure was increased from 0.8% to 2.2%. When the oxygen partial pressure was 1.2%, a low work function of 4.6 eV was obtained for the ITO:Ca thin films.     

Effect of the [Al/Zn] ratio in the starting solution and deposition temperature on the physical properties of sprayed ZnO:Al thin films

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin films (ZnO:Al) were deposited on sodocalcic glass substrates by the chemical spray technique, using zinc acetate and aluminum pentanedionate as precursors. The effect of the [Al/Zn] ratio in the starting solution, as well as the substrate temperature, on the physical characteristic of ZnO:Al thin films was analyzed. We have found that the addition of Al to the starting solution decreases the electrical resistivity of the films until a minimum value, located between 2 and 3 at.%; a further increase in the [Al/Zn] ratio leads to an increase in the resistivity. A similar resistivity tendency with the substrate temperature was encountered, namely, as the substrate temperature is increased, a minimum value of around 475 °C in almost all the cases, was obtained. At higher deposition temperatures the film resistivity suffers an increase. After a vacuum-thermal treatment, performed at 400 °C for 1 h, the films showed a resistivity decrease about one order of magnitude, reaching a minimum value, for the films deposited at 475 °C, of 4.3 × 10^− 3 Ω cm.The film morphology is strongly affected by the [Al/Zn] ratio in the starting solution. X-ray analysis shows a (002) preferential growth in all the films. As the substrate temperature increases it is observed a slight increase in the transmittance as well as a shift in the band gap of the ZnO:Al thin films.     

Microstructure and properties of Al-doped ZnO thin films by nonreactive DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature following rapid thermal annealing

A series of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films deposited by nonreactive DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature following rapid thermal annealing was studied to examine the influence of these Al doping concentration, sputtering power and annealing temperature on their microstructure, electrical and optical transport properties. AZO thin films with Al dopant of 3 wt% were oriented more preferentially along the (002) direction, bigger grain size and lower electrical resistivity The resistivity of AZO films decreases with the increase of Al content from 1 to 3 wt%, sputtering power from 60 to 100 W and the annealing temperature from 50 to 250 °C. Sputtering power and annealing had some effect on the average transmittance of AZO thin films. For AZO thin films with Al doping level of 3 wt%, the lowest electrical resistivity of 5.3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and the highest optical transmittance of 88.7% could gain when the sputtering power was 100 W and the annealing temperature was 200 °C or above.     

Influence of heat treatment on indium-tin-oxide anodes and copper phthalocyanine hole injection layers in organic light-emitting diodes

Modifications of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) layers by heat treatment aimed at lowering driving voltage in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are examined. Significant changes were observed in the surface morphology and carrier injection properties of ITO and CuPc layers after annealing at T = 250 °C for 0-60 min in a glove box. In the case of ITO annealing, although the ITO work function gradually decreased and the surface of the ITO layer became smoother than that of an unannealed ITO layer, we observed an appreciable decrease in the driving voltage with an increase in annealing time. In the case of CuPc annealing, on the other hand, we observed deterioration of the OLED's characteristics. All devices demonstrated an increase in driving voltage due to the pronounced crystallization of the CuPc layer.