Abstract
The authors investigated the electrical properties of low-temperature-deposited indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films treated with an argon-ion beam (AIB) at high current density and low energy. Experimental data showed that ITO films on PET substrates treated in this manner had higher conductivity than the PET films treated thermally. X-ray diffraction indicated that the AIB ITO films had a poly-crystalline-like structure and that amorphous regions were present in PET substrates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the AIB ITO film surfaces had smaller cracks and exhibited dense bonding, presumably caused by instantaneous melting of ITO films by the high-current AIB beam. Consequently, the authors speculate that the effects of ion-beam treatment are driven by surface heating due to atomic collisions.
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