STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF SPUTTERED INDIUM OXIDE THIN FILMS

Ivan Hotový – Thomas Kups – Juraj Hotový – Jozef Liday – Dalibor Búc – Mária Čaplovičová – Vlastimil Řeháček – Helmut Sitter – Clemens Simbrunner – Alberta Bonnani – Lothar Spiess

   The indium oxide thin films were deposited at room temperature by reactive magnetron sputtering in the mixture of oxygen and argon on silicon and oxidized silicon substrates. The influence of the oxygen flow in the reactive mixture and post-deposition annealing on the structural properties were investigated. The as deposited InO films showed a dominating randomly oriented nanocrystalline structure of cubic InO. The grain size decreased with increasing oxygen concentration in the plasma. Annealing in reducing atmospheres (vacuum, nitrogen and argon), besides improving the crystallinity, led to a partial cubic to rhombohedral phase transition in the indium oxide films.

Keywords: InO thin films, dc magnetron sputtering, structure, cubic indium oxide, rhombohedral indium oxide

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