Transparent conducting and highly stable indium-incorporated zinc oxide film prepared by chemical reactions

An indium incorporated zinc oxide film with a wurtzite structure has been prepared by a newly developed process composed of (i) chemical deposition of ZnO film, (ii) introduction of indium impurity in an aqueous solution, and (iii) heating at 773 K for 1 h. The structural, optical, and electrical characterizations were performed with X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy, measurements of optical transmission and absorption spectra, and Hall measurements. The In-incorporated ZnO film had an In-rich oxide surface layer with the characteristic wurtzite structure and changing In content in the thickness direction. The In-incorporated ZnO film showed high optical transmission of about 90% in the visible light region, resistivity as low as 8.4x10(-4) Omega cm with a carrier concentration of 2.1x10(20) cm(-3) and mobility of 35.4 cm(2) V-1 s(-1), and high electrical characteristics stability even after being held in an atmosphere of 358 K and 95% in humidity for 500 h. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.