A statistical parameter study of indium tin oxide thin films deposited by radio-frequency sputtering

In order to optimize the electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films, a statistical analysis called Taguchi design was employed. It is shown that the sheet resistance and transmittance are inversely proportional to each other as a function of the process parameters. Additionally, the preferred orientation of crystalline ITO film is distinguishably changed with the increase of sputtering temperature and oxygen fraction (O2/O2+Ar) in the sputtering ambient. The change in crystallinity results from the content of incorporated oxygen, which significantly affects the electrical and optical properties of ITO films and causes a rearrangement of atoms to form preferred closed-packed plane orientation. Finally, the microstructure of the ITO films becomes denser with the increasing oxygen fraction. As a result of this work, we have successfully achieved low sheet resistance (7.0 Ω/□) and high transmittance (~90%) for 300 nm thick films.