Effect of thermal processing on silver thin films of varying thickness deposited on zinc oxide and indium tin oxide

Journal Article · Sun Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3100043· OSTI ID:21190089

Sivaramakrishnan, K; Ngo, A T; Alford, T L ^[1]; Iyer, S ^[2]

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1. School of Materials and Flexible Display Center at ASU, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States)
2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27411 (United States)

Silver films of varying thicknesses (25, 45, and 60 nm) were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) on silicon and zinc oxide (ZnO) on silicon. The films were annealed in vacuum for 1 h at different temperatures (300-650 deg. C). Four-point-probe measurements were used to determine the resistivity of the films. All films showed an abrupt change in resistivity beyond an onset temperature that varied with thickness. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry measurements revealed agglomeration of the Ag films upon annealing as being responsible for the resistivity change. X-ray pole figure analysis determined that the annealed films took on a preferential <111> texturing; however, the degree of texturing was significantly higher in Ag/ZnO/Si than in Ag/ITO/Si samples. This observation was accounted for by interface energy minimization. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements revealed an increasing surface roughness of the annealed films with temperature. The resistivity behavior was explained by the counterbalancing effects of increasing crystallinity and surface roughness. Average surface roughness obtained from the AFM measurements were also used to model the agglomeration of Ag based on Ostwald ripening theory.

• OSTI ID: 21190089
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 105; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
AGGLOMERATION
ANNEALING
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
DEPOSITION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
ROUGHNESS
RUTHERFORD BACKSCATTERING SPECTROSCOPY
SILICON
SILVER
SPUTTERING
SURFACE ENERGY
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
THICKNESS
THIN FILMS
TIN OXIDES
ZINC OXIDES