Enhanced transmission based on vertically aligned ITO NRs deposited by Ion assisted electron beam evaporation with glancing angle deposition technique

In this study, we investigated the effects on the film thickness of the vertically aligned indium-doped tin oxide nanorods (ITO NRs). The ITO nanorods of deposited time at 180 to 780 sec were deposited on the silicon wafers and ITO-coated glass substrate by the ion-assisted electron-beam evaporation with the glancing-angle deposition technique. The physical microstructures and optical properties of the prepared samples have been investigated by grazing-incident X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and spectrophotometry. From the results, the ITO nanorods indicated the bixbite structures. The FE-SEM micrographs showed the changes of the physical morphologies based on the increased film thickness. The angle-dependent transmission as measured from -80 degrees to 80 degrees incident angles demonstrated the increased optical transmission from the vertically aligned ITO nanorods, compared to that of the ITO-coated glass. The enhancement of the optical transmission was related to the anti-reflection and light-scattering properties of the ITO nanorods, and offered a great potential for solar cell applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.