Low temperature fabrication of indium-tin oxide film by using ionized physical vapor deposition method

• We devised a new IPVD, equipped with an internal-type of ICP reactor.
• IPVD with Cu RF antenna shielded with quartz tube did not cause the contamination.
• IPVD was effective for crystallization of ITO film with low sheet resistance.
• The room temperature ITO deposition was successfully processed by IPVD.

Indium-tin oxide (ITO) films were successfully grown at low temperatures by ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) method, equipped with an internal-type inductively coupled plasma reactor (ICP-reactor). Radio-frequency antenna for ICP was made by Cu tube for the flow of cooling water, which was shielded by a quartz tube for excluding Cu-contamination from re-sputtering near the plasma field. Due to the high plasma density of IPVD, in-situ crystallization during the deposition of ITO film occurred even at the low temperatures, which lowers the sheet resistance. Therefore, IPVD could be used as an effective tool for low temperature processing devices such as plastic cover-unified touch sensors.