AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Thin Film Thursday Sessions
       Session TF-ThP

Paper TF-ThP20
Effect of Process Parameters on the Growth and Properties of ATO Films Prepared on Flexible Substrate at Room Temperature

Thursday, November 12, 2009, 6:00 pm, Room Hall 3

Session: Aspects of Thin Films Poster Session
Presenter: S.U. Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
Authors: S.U. Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
B.Y. Hong, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea
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Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) have found applications in several optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells, and flat panels as well as flexible displays, due to their excellent electrical and optical properties. In general, of all TCO films, glass is the most commonly selected substrate. However, for future development in flexible devices, glass is limited by its intrinsic inflexibility, thickness and weight characteristics. The objective of this study was to characterize the electrical, structural and optical properties of antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) films prepared on a polyethersulfone (PES) flexible substrate by the radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method for applications to transparent electrodes using a SnO2 target mixed with Sb of 6 wt% at room temperature. The process parameters were working pressure and RF power. The working pressure was varied from 1 to 7 mTorr in steps of 2 mTorr, and the RF power was varied from 100 to 175 W in step of 25 W at room temperature. The thickness of the deposited ATO films was about 150 nm ± 10. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed ATO films to be crystallized with a strong (101) preferred orientation as the RF power increased. The spectra revealed that the deposited films were polycrystalline and they retained the tetragonal structure. The grain size was calculated from the XRD spectra using the Scherrer equation. The change in FWHM reflects the change in the grain size of the film, that is, the decrease in FWHM corresponds to the increase in grain size. ATO film deposited on PES substrate at optimized condition showed the lowest resistivity of 7.4 x10-3 ohm-cm and the optical transmittance was 85% in the visible range. The possibility as the next-generation transparent electrode is also studied.