Thickness effect on laser-induced-damage threshold of indium-tin oxide films at 1064 nm

Laser-induced-damage characteristics of commercial indium-tin oxide (ITO) films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering deposition on K9 glass substrates as a function of the film thickness have been studied at 1064 nm with a 10 ns laser pulse in the 1-on-1 mode, and the various mechanisms for thickness effect on laser-induced-damage threshold (LIDT) of the film have been discussed in detail. It is observed that laser-damage-resistance of ITO film shows dramatic thickness effect with the LIDT of the 50-nm ITO film 7.6 times as large as the value of 300 nm film, and the effect of depressed carrier density by decreasing the film thickness is demonstrated to be the primary reason. Our experiment findings indicate that searching transparent conductive oxide (TCO) film with low carrier density and high carrier mobility is an efficient technique to improve the laser-damage-resistance of TCO films based on maintaining their well electric conductivity. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3665715]