Indium oxide co-doped with tin and zinc: A simple route to highly conducting high density targets for TCO thin-film fabrication

Indium oxide co-doped with tin and zinc (ITZO) ceramics have been successfully prepared by direct sintering of the powders mixture at 1300 °C. This allowed us to easily fabricate large highly dense target suitable for sputtering transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films, without using any cold or hot pressing techniques. Hence, the optimized ITZO ceramic reaches a high relative bulk density (∼ 92% of In2O3 theoretical density) and higher than the well-known indium oxide doped with tin (ITO) prepared under similar conditions. All X-ray diagrams obtained for ITZO ceramics confirms a bixbyte structure typical for In2O3 only. This indicates a higher solubility limit of Sn and Zn when they are co-doped into In2O3 forming a solid-solution. A very low value of electrical resistivity is obtained for [In2O3:Sn0.10]:Zn0.10 (1.7 × 10−3 Ω cm, lower than ITO counterpart) which could be fabricated to high dense ceramic target suing pressure-less sintering.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► In2O3 based ceramic have been prepared without any hot or cold pressing techniques.
► A high density ceramic suitable for sputtering TCO thin films could be achieved.
► High solubility limit of Zn and Sn when co-doped into In2O3 bixbyte structure.
► A high conductivity ceramic (higher than ITO counterparts) was obtained.