Monolithic Use of Inert Gas for Highly Transparent and Conductive Indium Tin Oxide Thin Films

Abstract

Due to its excellent electrical conductivity, high transparency in the visible spectrum, and exceptional chemical stability, indium tin oxide (ITO) has become a crucial material in the fields of optoelectronics and nanotechnology. This article provides a thorough analysis of growing ITO thin films with various thicknesses to study the impact of thickness on their electrical, optical, and physical properties for solar-cell applications. ITO was prepared through radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering using argon gas with no alteration in temperature or changes in substrate heating, followed with annealing in a tube furnace under inert conditions. An investigation of the influence of thickness on the optical, electrical, and physical properties of the films was conducted. We found that the best thickness for ITO thin films was 100 nm in terms of optical, electrical, and physical properties. To gain full comprehension of the impact on electrical properties, the different samples were characterized using a four-point probe and, interestingly, we found a high conductivity in the range of 1.8–2 × 106 S/m, good resistivity that did not exceed 1–2 × 10−6 Ωm, and a sheet resistance lower than 16 Ω sq−1. The transparency values found using a spectrophotometer reached values beyond 85%, which indicates the high purity of the thin films. Atomic force microscopy indicated a smooth morphology with low roughness values for the films, indicating an adequate transitioning of the charges on the surface. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the actual thicknesses and the morphology, through which we found no cracks or fractures, which implied excellent deposition and annealing. The X-ray diffraction microscopy results showed a high purity of the crystals, as the peaks (222), (400), (440), and (622) of the crystallographic plane reflections were dominant, which confirmed the existence of the faced-center cubic lattice of ITO. This work allowed us to design a method for producing excellent ITO thin films for solar-cell applications.