Effect of sputtering pressure on the optical and electrical properties of ITO film on fluorphlogopite substrate

Abstract

The van der Waals forces between the layers of fluorphlogopite make it flexible, and its stability under strong acid, strong alkali, and high temperature conditions has potential applications as a new base material for flexible electronics. In this article, using magnetron sputtering technology, the focus is on the influence of the change of sputtering pressure on the photoelectric properties of the prepared ITO thin film. In this study, indium tin oxide (ITO) film samples were prepared on a fluorphlogopite substrate using the magnetron sputtering technique and adjusting the sputtering pressure from 0.6 Pa to 11 Pa at room temperature. The film was characterized using SEM, XRD, four-probe tester, and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer to understand its microstructure and photoelectric properties. The number of bending times of the sample's square resistance around the steel cylinder characterized its flexibility. The results showed that the sample crystal grains decreased significantly with the increase in pressure. Further, it can be seen from SEM images that all samples contained extremely uniform particles. The light transmittance and resistivity of the sample synthesized below 3 Pa increased sharply with the increase of sputtering pressure, and the change above 3 Pa tended to be stable. The average transmittance of visible light in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm ​​is higher than 86%, the highest being 92.7%; the sputtering pressure of 0.6 Pa yielded a sample with the lowest resistivity of 1.51 × 10−3 Ωcm. All the samples were bent 1200 times around a steel cylinder with a radius of 3.65 mm, and the change in sheet resistance did not exceed 5%.