Electrical and optical properties of amorphous indium zinc oxide films

Abstract Valence electron control and electron transport mechanisms on the amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) films were investigated. The amorphous IZO films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering using an oxide ceramic IZO target (89.3 wt.% In2O3 and 10.7 wt.% ZnO). N-type impurity dopings, such as Sn, Al or F, could not lead to the increase in carrier density in the IZO. Whereas, H2 introduction into the IZO deposition process was confirmed to be effective to increase carrier density. By 30% H2 introduction into the deposition process, carrier density increased from 3.08 × 1020 to 7.65 × 1020 cm− 3, which must be originated in generations of oxygen vacancies or interstitial Zn2+ ions. Decrease in the transmittance in the near infrared region and increase in the optical band gap were observed with the H2 introduction, which corresponded to the increase in carrier density. The lowest resistivity of 3.39 × 10− 4 Ω cm was obtained by 10% H2 introduction without substrate heating during the deposition.