The deposition of low temperature sputtered In₂O₃ films using pulsed d.c magnetron sputtering from a powder target

Transparent conductive oxide layers are widely used in various applications such as solar cells, touch screen displays, heatable glasses, etc. This present work describes the deposition of transparent and conducting In ₂O₃ films from In₂O₃ powdered targets using a pulsed d.c magnetron sputtering technique without additional substrate heating or substrate biasing. The films deposited at various oxygen concentrations were approximately 500 nm thick, were pin-hole free and well adhered to the glass substrates. The material characteristics of the films were analysed using X-ray diffraction, four point probe, hot probe, UV-vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and profilometry. Structural and electrical analyses revealed that the films were crystalline and highly conductive when sputtered in the absence of oxygen but a dramatic change in resistivity was observed when oxygen was introduced during the deposition. Resistivity increased from 0.004 Ω cm (no oxygen) to 5 Ω cm with 10% oxygen.