PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE Ta-DOPED ITO FILMS BY ELECTRON-BEAM EVAPORATION

Abstract

Tantalum-doped indium tin oxide ( Ta -doped ITO) transparent conductive films are deposited on glass substrates by electron-beam evaporation. The effects of different Ta concentrations and annealing temperatures on the structural, morphologic, electrical, and optical properties of Ta -doped ITO films are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), Hall measurement, and optical transmission spectroscopy. The obtained films are polycrystalline with a cubic bixbyite structure of indium oxide and preferentially oriented in the (222) crystallographic direction. The minimum resistivity of 1.54×10-4 Ω ·cm is obtained from the ITO film containing 0.2 wt% tantalum annealed at 500°C and the average optical transmittance is over 95% from 425 nm to 460 nm.