Abstract
Deuteriumโdoped indium tin oxide films, fabricated by dc plasma deposition in sputter gas consisting of deuterium and argon, were annealed at 300โยฐC for 40โmin in flowing oxygen gas by using tubular gold image furnace. On oxygen annealing, the optical transparency of the film deposited at the gas pressure ratio of deuterium to argon of 3.6% increased from โ30 to 60% at the wavelength of 600โnm, although that of the films deposited at the ratios of 1 and 1.5% slightly decreased from 88 to 80% and from 85 to 77%, respectively. The resistivity of the films at room temperature, ranged from 2โรโ10^โ4^ to 1.4โรโ10^โ3^โฮฉโcm corresponding to the gas pressure ratio from 1 to 3.6%, was almost the same before and after the annealing for each film. A change in morphology toward a smoother surface by the oxygen annealing was apparent especially for the film with the gas pressure ratio of 3.6%. Agglomeration of randomly oriented grains with diameters of <100โ200โnm observed before the annealing disappeared on annealing. A smoother surface is responsible for higher transparency of the annealed films that contained densely populated hydroxyl bond before the annealing. magnified image
Oxygen annealing at 300โยฐC enlarged the optical transmittance (left panel) but decreased the population of hydrogenโbonded oxygen (right panel) of the indium tin oxide thin film fabricated by dc plasma deposition in sputter gas containing deuterium of 3.6%.