Characteristics of Ion Beam Assisted ITO Thin Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates at low temperature (100 °C) by the ion beam assisted RF magnetron sputter technique at different ion beam energy. The structural, surface morphology and electrical characteristics of the ITO thin films were investigated as a function of ion beam assisted energy. With increasing ion beam assisted energy from 0 eV to 100 eV, electrical resistivity of the ITO films reduced from 1.13 × 10−3 Ω·cm to 5.5 × 10−4 Ω·cm. Hall mobility and carrier concentration slightly increased, which attribute to slightly the crystal growth and harden ITO film. The preferential crystalline orientation of the sputtered films is observed gradually a change from the (222) to the (400) crystalline orientation with increasing ion beam assisted energy.