Investigation of annealing effect on the electrical and optical properties of ITO film prepared by sol-gel process

Indium tin oxide thin film (ITO film) has been deposited onto the quartz glass by a sot-gel process, followed by annealing in air. The temperature range from 200 to 800 degrees C and the annealing effect on the optical, electrical and structural properties of ITO films has been studied in detail. ITO Films with a thickness of 100nm had an optical transparency up to 90% in the wavelength range of visible spectrum. The ITO film showed minimum resistivity of 1.65x10-3 Omega.cm-1 when annealing temperature was 600 degrees C in air. The rapid annealing process may contribute to the electrical property of ITO film for the densification of the micro structure. But the process may lead to the decrease of transparency for the reflection caused by grain boundary.