Structural, optical, and electrical properties of RF-sputtered indium oxide thin films

Abstract

Indium oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrates at various growth temperatures by radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering. The effects of growth temperature on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of the In2O3 thin films were characterized. The films showed a body-centered cubic structure with a main (400) orientation, and the crystallite size was calculated by using Scherrer's formula. The film deposited at a growth temperature of 400 °C indicated an average optical transmittance of 85.9% in the wavelength range of 400–1100 nm. The band gap energy, carrier concentration, and figure of merit of the In2O3 thin films were found to depend significantly on the growth temperature. The results suggest that the growth temperature is a key parameter in growing high-quality thin films.