On the solid phase crystallization of In2O3:H transparent conductive oxide films prepared by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

Document VersionAccepted manuscript including changes made at the peer-review stage Please check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. ABSTRACTHydrogen-doped indium oxide (In2O3:H) has emerged as a highly transparent and conductive oxide, finding its application in a multitude of optoelectronic devices. Recently, we have reported on an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to prepare high quality In2O3:H. This process consists of ALD of In2O3:H films at 100 o C, followed by a solid phase crystallization step at 150-200 o C. In this work, we report on a detailed electron microscopy study of this crystallization process which reveals new insights into the crucial aspects for achieving the large grain size and associated excellent properties of the material. The key finding is that the best optoelectronic properties are obtained by preparing the films at the lowest possible temperature prior to post-deposition annealing. Electron microscopy imaging shows that such films are mostly amorphous, but feature a very low density of embedded crystallites. Upon post-deposition annealing, crystallization proceeds merely from isotropic crystal grain growth of these embedded crystallites rather than by the formation of additional crystallites. The

The sputter deposition of broadband transparent and highly conductive cerium and hydrogen co‐doped indium oxide and its transfer to silicon heterojunction solar cells

“…The temperature related to the completion of the μ enhancement can be read out to increase from about 193 to 200, 206, and 215 C for P H2O = 1, 2, 5, and 10 × 10 −4 Pa, well agreeing with the reports on the nucleation and crystallization hampering behavior of hydrogen. 14 This finding is of particular importance for the application in SHJ cells, since the temperature range around 200 C coincides with the upper limit for the thermal stability of interface passivation and contact resistivity of typical a-Si:H-based contacts. 36,37 A more indepth experimental analysis about the crystallization kinetics of H-doped In 2 O 3 was reported by Wardenga et al 38 maxima decreased with Ce content.…”

“…However, indium oxide-based materials with properties outperforming conventional ITO have been discovered and extensively studied in the past years. Here, the usage of other metal dopants (e.g., Zr, W, Ti, and Mo 5,[8][9][10][11][12] ) than tin and/or the incorporation of hydrogen [13][14][15] resulted in enlarged electron mobility (μ), being an important parameter for the conductivity-transparency trade-off.…”

“…Regarding the latter, hydrogen can promote amorphous film growth such that during a post-deposition thermal treatment, high-quality polycrystalline TCO layers with low strain and large crystal grains can emerge, which allow for an exceptional high electron mobility. 14,21 Kobayashi et al recently discovered the co-doping of In 2 O 3 with cerium and hydrogen to facilitate μ values of up to 145 cm 2 /Vs when grown via reactive plasma deposition (RPD). 20 Similarly, Koida et al extensively characterized the microstructure and bulk properties of high μ RPD In 2 O 3 :Ce,H layers when deposited polycrystalline or after crystallization from the amorphous phase.…”

Carrier scattering mechanisms limiting mobility in hydrogen-doped indium oxide

“…Sensitivity to GBS and POPS increases when l iis is increased. GBS can be readily reduced by ensuring large grain sizes during growth and annealing, 45 but considering the Seeger formulation, 37,38 POPS reduction may not be so easily achieved. l pops depends upon the Seeger constant [S, defined explicitly in the supplementary material, Eq.…”

Three-Dimensional In-Situ Imaging of Single-Grain Growth in Polycrystalline Films

“…This approach is a major step from the indirect analysis of XRD patterns reported previously [10,22]. Our quantitative analysis of the morphology kinetics and strain development lays the experimental foundation for more detailed theories of solid-phase crystallization phenomena.…”