High rate deposition of transparent conducting oxide thin films by vacuum arc plasma evaporation

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films have been deposited at a high rate above 370 nm/min by vacuum arc plasma evaporation (VAPE) using sintered oxide fragments as the source material. It was found that the deposition rate of TCO films was strongly dependent on the deposition pressure, whereas the obtained electrical properties were relatively independent of the pressure. Resistivities of 5.6×10−4 and 2.3×10−4 Ω·cm and an average transmittance above 80% (with substrate included) in the visible range were obtained in Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films deposited at 100 and 350 °C, respectively. In addition, a resistivity as low as 1.4×10−4 Ω·cm and an average transmittance above 80% were also obtained in indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films deposited at 300 °C. The deposited TCO films exhibited uniform distributions of resistivity and thickness on large area substrates.