Structural, electrical, and optical properties of ZnInO alloy thin films

Indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin films with different percentages of In content (In/[In+Zn]) are synthesized on glass substrates by magnetron sputtering, and the structural, electrical and optical properties of IZO thin films deposited at different In2O3 target powers are investigated. IZO thin films grown at different In2O3 target sputtering powers show evident morphological variation and different grain sizes. As the In2O3 sputtering power rises, the grain size becomes larger and electrical mobility increases. The film grown with an In2O3 target power of 100 W displays the highest electrical mobility of 13.5 cm·V−1·s−1 and the lowest resistivity of 2.4 × 10−3 Ω·cm. The average optical transmittance of the IZO thin film in the visible region reaches 80% and the band gap broadens with the increase of In2O3 target power, which is attributed to the increase in carrier concentration and is in accordance with Burstein—Moss shift theory. (condensed matter: structural, mechanical, and thermal properties)