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Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

In this work, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was applied to indium tin oxide (ITO) films in ambient atmosphere, resulting in significant improvements of the quality of the ITO films that are commonly used as conductive transparent electrodes for photovoltaic structures. Starting from a single sintere...

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Autores principales: Prepelita, Petronela, Stavarache, Ionel, Craciun, Doina, Garoi, Florin, Negrila, Catalin, Sbarcea, Beatrice Gabriela, Craciun, Valentin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Beilstein-Institut 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6664415/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31431863
http://dx.doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.10.149
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author Prepelita, Petronela
Stavarache, Ionel
Craciun, Doina
Garoi, Florin
Negrila, Catalin
Sbarcea, Beatrice Gabriela
Craciun, Valentin
author_facet Prepelita, Petronela
Stavarache, Ionel
Craciun, Doina
Garoi, Florin
Negrila, Catalin
Sbarcea, Beatrice Gabriela
Craciun, Valentin
author_sort Prepelita, Petronela
collection PubMed
description In this work, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was applied to indium tin oxide (ITO) films in ambient atmosphere, resulting in significant improvements of the quality of the ITO films that are commonly used as conductive transparent electrodes for photovoltaic structures. Starting from a single sintered target (purity 99.95%), ITO thin films of predefined thickness (230 nm, 300 nm and 370 nm) were deposited at room temperature by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (rfMS). After deposition, the films were subjected to a RTA process at 575 °C (heating rate 20 °C/s), maintained at this temperature for 10 minutes, then cooled down to room temperature at a rate of 20 °C/s. The film structure was modified by changing the deposition thickness or the RTA process. X-ray diffraction investigations revealed a cubic nanocrystalline structure for the as-deposited ITO films. After RTA, polycrystalline compounds with a textured (222) plane were observed. X-ray photon spectroscopy was used to confirm the beneficial effect of the RTA treatment on the ITO chemical composition. Using a Tauc plot, values of the optical band gap ranging from 3.17 to 3.67 eV were estimated. These values depend on the heat treatment and the thickness of the sample. Highly conductive indium tin oxide thin films (ρ = 7.4 × 10(−5) Ω cm) were obtained after RTA treatment in an open atmosphere. Such films could be used to manufacture transparent contact electrodes for solar cells.
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spelling pubmed-66644152019-08-20 Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering Prepelita, Petronela Stavarache, Ionel Craciun, Doina Garoi, Florin Negrila, Catalin Sbarcea, Beatrice Gabriela Craciun, Valentin Beilstein J Nanotechnol Full Research Paper In this work, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was applied to indium tin oxide (ITO) films in ambient atmosphere, resulting in significant improvements of the quality of the ITO films that are commonly used as conductive transparent electrodes for photovoltaic structures. Starting from a single sintered target (purity 99.95%), ITO thin films of predefined thickness (230 nm, 300 nm and 370 nm) were deposited at room temperature by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (rfMS). After deposition, the films were subjected to a RTA process at 575 °C (heating rate 20 °C/s), maintained at this temperature for 10 minutes, then cooled down to room temperature at a rate of 20 °C/s. The film structure was modified by changing the deposition thickness or the RTA process. X-ray diffraction investigations revealed a cubic nanocrystalline structure for the as-deposited ITO films. After RTA, polycrystalline compounds with a textured (222) plane were observed. X-ray photon spectroscopy was used to confirm the beneficial effect of the RTA treatment on the ITO chemical composition. Using a Tauc plot, values of the optical band gap ranging from 3.17 to 3.67 eV were estimated. These values depend on the heat treatment and the thickness of the sample. Highly conductive indium tin oxide thin films (ρ = 7.4 × 10(−5) Ω cm) were obtained after RTA treatment in an open atmosphere. Such films could be used to manufacture transparent contact electrodes for solar cells. Beilstein-Institut 2019-07-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6664415/ /pubmed/31431863 http://dx.doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.10.149 Text en Copyright © 2019, Prepelita et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0https://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano/termsThis is an Open Access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Please note that the reuse, redistribution and reproduction in particular requires that the authors and source are credited. The license is subject to the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology terms and conditions: (https://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano/terms)
spellingShingle Full Research Paper
Prepelita, Petronela
Stavarache, Ionel
Craciun, Doina
Garoi, Florin
Negrila, Catalin
Sbarcea, Beatrice Gabriela
Craciun, Valentin
Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
title Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
title_full Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
title_fullStr Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
title_full_unstemmed Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
title_short Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
title_sort rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ito thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering
topic Full Research Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6664415/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31431863
http://dx.doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.10.149
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