Surface morphology, structural and electrical properties of RF-sputtered ITO thin films on Si substrates

Series of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto Si(100) substrate by RF sputtering. The film thickness ranges from 61 to 768 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments were performed to study the structure and the surface morphology of these films. The electrical properties were obtained by a Hall effect measurement system; the electrical resistivity $\rho$, the carrier concentration n and the mobility $\mu$ were measured. Annealing experiments were carried out in the air at $400{}^{\circ }\text{C}$ for 60 min. The different physical parameters were investigated as a function of thickness before and after annealing. The effects of power and deposition rate were also addressed. We noted that the behaviour of some parameters with thickness is different before and after annealing. All these results are discussed and correlated in this article. Also, the results of the present ITO/Si system were compared to those of the ITO/glass, we have previously published.