Morphology and structure evolution of tin-doped indium oxide thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering: The role of the sputtering atmosphere
- Department of Solar Fuels and Energy Storage Materials, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D14109 Berlin (Germany)
The microstructure and morphology evolution of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering in different sputtering atmospheres were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, and atomic force microscopy. The surface roughness w increases with increasing film thickness d{sub f}, and exhibits a power law behavior w ∼ d{sub f}{sup β}. The roughness decreases with increasing O{sub 2} flow, while it increases with increasing H{sub 2} flow. The growth exponent β is found to be 0.35, 0.75, and 0.98 for depositions in Ar/10%O{sub 2}, pure Ar, and Ar/10%H{sub 2} atmospheres, respectively. The correlation length ξ increases with film thickness also with a power law according to ξ ∼ d{sub f}{sup z} with exponents z = 0.36, 0.44, and 0.57 for these three different gas atmospheres, respectively. A combination of local and non-local growth modes in 2 + 1 dimensions is discussed for the ITO growth in this work.
- OSTI ID:
- 22273551
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 15; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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