Low temperature growth of ITO transparent conductive oxide layers in oxygen-free environment by RF magnetron sputtering

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) thin films were grown at room temperature (RT) in oxygen-free environment by rf-magnetron sputtering on glass and Si(100)-substrates. The effects of argon pressure, sputtering power and film thickness on the electrical and optical properties of ITO films were investigated. For a 100 nm thick ITO films grown at RT in argon pressure 1.95·10−3 mbar and sputtering power of 50 W, the transmittance was near 90% at 480 nm and resistance was 5.4·10−4 Ohm·cm. It has been shown that the sputtering power plays an important role in electric properties of ITO films. SEM images of these samples show smooth surface with sharp substrate/ITO interface