Development of higher performance indium tin oxide films at a very low temperature (< 80 degrees C) by the neutral beam-assisted sputtering process

Abstract

At very low temperatures (<80 degrees C), improved performance indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films with a low resistivity of 4.22 x 10(-4) Omega cm and high transmittance >90% at 550 nm were developed using the neutral beam-assisted sputtering (NBAS) technique, which included a cyclic inter-treatment process with an Ar neutral beam. Transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction showed that the neutral particles with hyper-thermal energy was able to enhance the formation of the nano-crystalline phase and activate the dopant without additional heating or plasma damage during ITO thin film deposition. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.