Mechanism of Surface Morphology Development of Tin Oxide Transparent Conductive Films

Abstract

The surface morphology of tin oxide transparent conductive films deposited by chemical vapor deposition was studied. The development of surface crystallites was observed, and the change in the crystalline orientations was evaluated at several stages of film growth. The prismatic and triangular pyramidal-shaped crystallites on the surface were characterized as (200) and (110) oriented, respectively, based on the knowledge of crystal habit appearing on cassiterite mineral crystals and periodic bond chain theory. The prismatic shape consisted of flat 110, while the triangular pyramidal shape consisted of two 101 and one rough surface, which is brought about by the imperfectness of the kinked 111. Although these two orientations exist in films from the initial growth stage, switching of the most dominant crystalline orientation from (110) to (200) occurs as the morphology of the film changes from an isolated island to competitive growths.

APCVD of ZnO:Al, insight and control by modeling

“…Atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) is a low cost method for producing large scale coatings of a wide variety of materials. In particular, making transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) has been studied by several groups [1][2][3][4]. An important use of transparent conducting oxides is the application in thin film solar cells and in this way, APCVD contributes to the production of renewable energy [5][6][7][8].…”