Annealing effect of ITO and ITO/Cu transparent conductive films in low pressure hydrogen atmosphere

A layer of copper was sputtered onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates to form an ITO/Cu film, using a direct current magnetron operated at room temperature and in argon gas. The ITO and ITO/Cu films were heated in vacuum, and in hydrogen gas, to study their dependence of electronic and optical properties on annealing temperature. The resistivity of the ITO film was reduced from 6.2 × 10−4 to 2.7 × 10−4 Ω cm, and the average optical transmittance was improved to above 90% by the annealing process. The ITO/Cu film showed a low value of resistivity of 2.8 × 10−4 Ω cm and the transmittance was between 58 and 72%.