Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Study on Strain Evolution of Transparent Conductive Thin Films Prepared by RF Sputtering Method

Abstract

In this study, AZO films were deposited by RF sputtering technique. Then, the state of residual stress in the AZO films was investigated by using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and XRD methods. Our experiments show that a suitable SE model could provide useful indication about the variation of stress in the as-deposited films. However, there is a disparity in the results of the SE fitting and XRD stress analysis for annealed AZO films. Further investigation is required in order to understand the cause of this contradiction. Despite this disparity, the SE technique enables us to monitor strain relaxation in TCO films with a faster and simpler way compared with other methods.

Comparison of the Optical and Electrical Properties of Al-Doped ZnO Films Using a Lorentz Model

“…Many researchers have evaluated its optical and electrical properties. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is one of the methods used to determine the thickness, surface roughness, and optical constants using various dispersion models [12][13][14].…”