Microstructure of amorphous indium oxide and tin oxide thin films

Abstract

Indium oxide, tin oxide, and some other doped and undoped oxide semiconductors show an interesting and technologically important combination of properties. They have high luminous transparency, good electrical conductivity and high infrared reflectivity. Numerous techniques for depositing these materials have been developed and have undergone a number of changes during last two decades. An understanding of the basic physics of these materials has begun to dawn. Most of the literature on transparent conducting oxides consists of studying the dependence of the properties on the composition, preparation conditions, such as deposition rate, substrate temperature or post-deposition heat treatment. In this paper the authors have employed the transmission electron microscopy to study the microstructure of reactively evaporated, electron beam evaporated, ion-beam sputtered amorphous indium oxide and reactively evaporated amorphous tin oxide thin films. These films, which have received little attention in the past, can have enormous potential as transparent conductive coatings on heat-sensitive substrates and inexpensive solar cells.