Rapid thermal annealing effect on the characteristics of ZnSnO3 films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

We have investigated the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) effect on the electrical, optical, structural, and surface properties of zinc tin oxide (ZTO) films prepared by using a radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The RTA of ZTO films up to 600 °C resulted in decrease of resistivity from 6.48 to 1.20 × 10−2 Ω-cm and increase of work function from 3.81 eV to 4.68 eV. In particular, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy examination showed that the work function of the ZTO film could be controlled by RTA process. However, optical transmittance, microstructure and surface morphology of the ZTO films didn't affected by RTA temperature up to 600 °C due to stable amorphous structure of the ZTO films.