Influence of the sputtering system's vacuum level on the properties of indium tin oxide films

Effect of the base pressure achieved prior deposition on the main properties of ZnO:Al films obtained by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature for electrical contact use

“…To understand the above observations regarding the electrical and optical properties of ITO and AZO thin films, it is necessary to consider the results reported about the effect of controlled quantities of ambient gases on such properties, which is actually an issue widely studied. Curiously, the effect of the partial pressure of water vapor 19,20 or H 2 21-29 on the resistivity of ITO films exhibits the same U-shaped behavior reported by Zebaze-Kana et al 15 concerning the effect of base pressure. The same Ushaped tendency was observed in the resistivity of AZO films with the addition of H 2 in the sputtering chamber.…”

“…This behavior of the resistivity will be referred to in this work as the U-shaped tendency. Furthermore, it is also important to note that Zebaze-Kana et al 15 observed that the transmittance of ITO, on the other hand, always increased with the increase of the base pressure.…”

“…Similar results were observed in the properties expected for AgInSbTe 10 and B 4 C, 11 but the change in base pressure did not seem to greatly affect the desired properties of nitrides such TiN x O y 12 and AlN. 13 On the other hand, the study of the effect of base pressure on the properties of metal oxides deposited from ceramic targets such as Sn-doped In 2 O 3 (In 2 O 3 :Sn), known as indium-tin oxide (ITO), 14,15 and its better substitute as transparent conductive oxide (TCO), Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al), known as aluminum-zinc oxide (AZO), [16][17][18] produced interesting results. In these cases, the authors presented different outcomes regarding the effect of the base pressure on the optical and electrical properties of the deposited films, because most of the properties were studied as a function of three or four points of base pressure.…”

“…In these cases, the authors presented different outcomes regarding the effect of the base pressure on the optical and electrical properties of the deposited films, because most of the properties were studied as a function of three or four points of base pressure. The most complete work was that reported by Zebaze-Kana et al, 15 who tested a moderate range of the base pressure and observed that the increase of this parameter, up to a certain value, leads to a decrease of ITO resistivity, which then increases with a further increase of base pressure. This behavior of the resistivity will be referred to in this work as the U-shaped tendency.…”

Adhesion and degradation of organic and hybrid organic-inorganic light-emitting devices

“…The sputtering process parameters were 0.64 W/cm 2 rf power density, 0.8 sccm Ar flow rate, deposition pressure of 3.2 Â 10 À3 Torr, and deposition temperature of $25-30 C as obtained from a previous work. 40 The film thickness was measured in-situ using a an Inficon thin film controller. This was later confirmed by profilometry measurement using a Veeco Dektak 150 surface profiler (Bruker Instruments, Santa Barbara, CA).…”