Influence of film thickness on the texture, morphology and electro-optical properties of indium tin oxide films

In the present study, the structural, electrical, and optical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) films are reported as a function of film thickness (162-840 nm). The properties are discussed in terms of the (100) preferred orientation evolution with the increase of film thickness. This preferred orientation allowed accommodation of more oxygen vacancies, resulting in the increase of carrier concentration from 2.43 × 10²⁰ cm ^-3 to 7.11 × 10²⁰ cm^-3 and therefore enhancing the electrical conductivity. The absorption in the infrared region was also found to increase with the increasing free carrier concentration, which was attributed to the plasma excitation. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profile showed that the Sn⁴⁺ concentration did not change with film thickness. However, the oxygen concentration was decreased slightly after the thickness of the ITO films was increased to 100 nm, as the consequence of the formation of the (100) texture allowing the accommodation of more oxygen vacancies. The results show that the fabrication process can be manipulated to control the electrical properties and the infrared absorption of the sputtered ITO films.