The crystallinity and mechanical properties of indium tin oxide coatings on polymer substrates

Journal Article · Tue Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3556452· OSTI ID:21538098

Kim, Eun-Hye; Yang, Chan-Woo; Park, Jin-Woo ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)

We present the relationship between the microstructure and mechanical strength of indium tin oxide (ITO) on flexible substrates. With varying thickness (h{sub f}), ITO is deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by dc magnetron sputtering. The microstructure of ITO is controlled by substrate surface conditions and sputtering parameters. The maximum substrate temperature during deposition is limited to 80 deg. C due to the low glass transition temperature (T{sub g}) of PET. The crystallinity and surface roughness (R{sub rms}) are analyzed by high resolution x-ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and AFM. The crack resistance of ITO is evaluated by uniaxial tension test. The experimental results reveal that, at a fixed h{sub f}, the degree and quality of crystallinity of ITO are highly improved by increasing sputtering power and the substrate temperature. As the crystallinity is improved, the ratio of preferred growth orientations of (222) to (400) is increased and the degree of peak shifts to lower 2{theta} is decreased. They indicate that the crystallinity is improved as the lattice damage is reduced and film density is increased. The tension test results confirm that, up to a certain h{sub f}, the strength of ITO can be significantly enhanced by improving the microstructures.

• OSTI ID: 21538098
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 109, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3556452; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
COATINGS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
GLASS
INDIUM OXIDES
MAGNETRONS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MICROSTRUCTURE
POLYESTERS
ROUGHNESS
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE COATING
SURFACES
THICKNESS
TIN OXIDES
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
CHALCOGENIDES
COHERENT SCATTERING
DEPOSITION
DIFFRACTION
DIMENSIONS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELECTRON TUBES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
ESTERS
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
MICROSCOPY
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
MICROWAVE TUBES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLYMERS
SCATTERING
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TIN COMPOUNDS