Structural, electrical and optical properties of radio frequency sputtered indium tin oxide thin films modified by annealing in silicon oil and vacuum

Indium tin oxide thin films (thickness similar to 300 nm) have been deposited on glass at the substrate temperature of 65 degrees C by radio frequency magnetron sputtering with the power density of 1.25W cm(-2) under argon atmosphere and annealed subsequently in silicon oil at 200 degrees and 350 degrees C to investigate systematically the effects on their structural, optical and electrical properties. As-deposited thin films after annealing at 350 degrees C exhibit marked changes in the microstructure with emergence of crystallites (average size similar to 51 nm), high optical transmittance (similar to 86%) in the visible range, and electrical resistivity as low as 1.24 x 10(-3) Omega-cm with high figure of merit of 5.35 x 10(-3) Omega-1 square - indicating their suitability as transparent conducting anode for optoelectronic devices. Further, the above findings are compared with those observed in case of films annealed in vacuum (similar to 4 x 10(-4) Pa) at 350 degrees C. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.