Annealing of ITO films sputtered with argon and oxygen
Rein, M.H.
,
Mayandi, J.
,
Monakhov, E.
,
Holt A.
European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 26, Hamburg, 2011-09-05--09-11. EU PVSEC Proceedings, 26, 2608-2612
- Publ. year
- 2011
- Publ. type
- paper
- Abstract
- Dc magnetron sputter deposited indium tin oxide (ITO) films for silicon based hetero-junction solar cell application are studied. The films show suitable properties with transmittance as high as ~94% and resistivity as low as 2.2 x 10-4 Ω cm. Oxygen is used as reactive gas and the sputtering gas is argon. The depositions are done at room temperature, and subsequent annealing is carried out on a hot-plate at different temperatures (250 °C, 300°C and 350°C) in air atmosphere. The O2/(Ar+O2) flow vol% into the sputtering chamber is varied from 0 to 25. An improvement in optical and electrical properties is demonstrated when the films are annealed. The structure of the asdeposited films is shown to be dependent on the oxygen present during sputtering. When no oxygen is added, the films exhibit an amorphous structure. When oxygen flow is introduced, the XRD patterns indicate crystalline films. Besides, high flows of oxygen results in higher resistivity of the films. The resistivity can be considerably reduced by a post-deposition heat treatment.
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