Structural and chemical characterization of as-deposited microcrystalline indium oxide films prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering

Microcrystalline indium oxide (InO_x) films with thickness of 120–1600 nm were prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering in various mixtures of oxygen in argon at room temperature. The depositions were carried out onto Corning 7059 glass and silicon substrates. The conductivity of the as-deposited films can change in a controllable and fully reversible manner by about six orders of magnitude by alternately exposing the films to ultraviolet (UV) light (hv≥3.5eV) in vacuum and reoxidizing them in ozone. The microstructure of the films was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction. For this purpose, films with a thickness of about 100 nm were deposited onto NaCl substrates. The surface and depth composition of the films were examined using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) combined with depth profiling analysis. The depth profiles showed that all the films exhibit an extremely good in-depth uniformity, all the way to the interface with the glass substrate, regardless of their thickness. Quantitative Auger and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analyses were employed to determine the stoichiometry of the films. An oxygen deficiency of 2–5% has been observed with respect to the stoichiometric composition. The effects of film thickness and oxygen content in the sputtering gas on the stoichiometry were examined. Both AES and EDX analyses confirmed that the stoichiometry is invariant for these parameters.