High-rate dry etching characteristics of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) have been investigated in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) using BCl 3 /CH 4 /H 2 plasma chemistry. Etch rates were measured as a function of BCl 3 flow rate in BCl 3 /CH 4 /H 2 mixture and dc-bias voltage. Measurement of etch rate, and etched sidewall profile were performed using a stylus profilometer and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The highest AZO etch rate about 310 nm/min, could be obtained near 80% BCl 3 and at dc-bias voltage of À350 V.

SiO 2 thin films were deposited at the temperatures < 150 C by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using a tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS)/N 2 /O 2 gas mixture, and the physical and chemical characteristics as well as the characteristics as a transparent diffusion barrier to H 2 O were investigated. Using a gas combination of TEOS(40 sccm)/O 2 (500 sccm)/ N 2 (100 sccm) at source power of 500 W and dc bias voltage of À350 V, SiO 2 with a stoichometric composition of SiO 2 and a smooth surface similar to the substrate could be deposited. When a multilayer diffusion barrier composed of parylene(800 nm)/SiO 2 (100 nm)/parylene(800 nm)/SiO 2 (100 nm)/parylene(800 nm) was formed on a polyethersulfone (PES) substrate, the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the substrate was decreased from 54.1 to 0.3 gm/ (m 2 Áday).

This study examined the effects of a He/O 2 and He/SF 6 atmospheric pressure plasma surface treatment of indium tin oxide (ITO) glass on the ITO surface and electrical characteristics of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). The OLEDs composed of ITO glass/2-TNATA/NPD/Alq 3 /LiF/Al showed better electrical characteristics, such as lower turn-on voltage, higher power efficiency, etc., after the He/O 2 or He/SF 6 plasma treatment. The He/SF 6 treatment resulted in superior electrical characteristics compared with the He/O 2 treatment. The electrical improvement as a result of the He/SF 6 and He/O 2 plasma treatments is related to the decrease in the carbon and Sn 4þ concentration on the ITO surface and fluorine doping of the ITO possibly indicating a change in the work function as a result of the treatments.

Tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited at room temperature by a dual-oxygen-ion-beam-assisted evaporator system and the effects of doped tin concentrations in the films on the electrical properties of the ITO films were investigated. Doped tin atoms in amorphous ITO films caused extra scattering and structural defects due to the inactivation of tin atoms in the films. Therefore, increasing the tin concentration decreased the conductivity. The lowest resistivity of indium oxide (IO) and ITO obtained was 3.6 × 10 −4-cm for IO and 4 × 10 −4-7 × 10 −4-cm for 5-25 wt% SnO 2. The mobility and mean free path of these films were 20-63 cm 2 /V•s and 3.3-7.4 nm, respectively.