Effects of heat treatment on morphological, optical and electrical properties of ITO films by sol-gel technique

Indium-tin-oxide(ITO) films were prepared on the quarts glass by sol-gel technique. Effects of different heat treatment temperatures and cooling methods on the morphological, optical and electrical properties of ITO films were measured by TG/DTA, IR, XRD, SEM, UV-VIS spectrometer and four-probe apparatus. It is found that the crystallized ITO films exhibit a polycrystalline cubic bixbyite structure. The heat treatment process has significant effects on the morphological, optical and electrical properties of ITO films. Elevating the heat treatment temperature can perfect the crystallization process of ITO films, therefore the optical and electrical properties of ITO films are improved. But the further increasing of heat treatment temperature results in the increment of ITO films' resistivity. Compared with ITO films elaborated by furnace cooling, those prepared through air cooling have following characteristics as obviously decreased crystalline size, deeply declined porosity, more compact micro-morphology, improved electrical property and slightly decreased optical transmission.