Deposition of In xO y and SnO x thin films on polymer substrate by means of atmospheric barrier-torch discharge

Abstract

Barrier torch discharge was used for low temperature deposition of In x O y and SnO x thin films at atmospheric pressure on polymer substrates. Vapors of Sn- and In-acetylacetonat were used as growth precursors for the deposition process of SnO x and In x O y thin films. Transparent films of conductivity σ SnO≈10 S/cm for SnO x and σ InO≈10 2 S/cm for In x O y were deposited on polymer substrates under conditions when the atmospheric plasma jet directly interacted with the polymer substrate. Plasma jet excitation had to be pulse modulated in order to avoid thermal damages of the polymer substrate. SnO x and In x O y were also deposited in a different discharge mode, in which interaction of the light emitting plasma jet with the substrate did not directly occur. In this case, the films had pure adhesion and had electrical conductivity lower than σ<10 −3 S/cm. The analysis by an electron microprobe system has shown that the films had chemical composition close to SnO 2 and In 2O 3, respectively. XRD diffraction did not confirm any crystalline phase in all the deposited samples.