Preparation and Characteristics of Indium Oxide Thin Films

In2O3 thin films were prepared on glass substrates by radio frequency(RF) magnetron sputtering.The structural,electrical and optical characteristics of In2O3 films were investigated by atomic force microscope(AFM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),X-ray photoelectron spectroscope,UV-Visible spectrophotometer and Hall effect measurements.It is found that the surface roughness of In2O3 thin film increases with growth temperature increasing.The X-ray diffraction(XRD) studies show that the films are polycrystalline and retain a cubic structure.As the growth temperature rises,the grain size of In2O3 thin film increases and the FWHM decreases,namely,the crystalline quality of the films is improved.The optical transmittance of the thin films exceeds 90%.The film grown in Ar atmosphere shows highest mobility with resistivity of 0.31Ω·cm,mobility of 9.69cm2/(V·s),and electron concentration of about 1×1018cm-3.And the annealing can improve the electrical properties of the film grown in the Ar+O2 atmosphere.