Room temperature indium tin oxide by XeCl excimer laser annealing for flexible display

A XeCl excimer laser (λ=308 nm) has been used to anneal Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) films deposited at 25 °C using DC magnetron sputtering. With increasing laser fluence, the film crystallinity was improved while retaining the as-deposited 〈111〉 texture. As a result of laser irradiation, the sheet resistance of 100 nm ITO films decreased from 191 Ω/□ (1.91×10−3 Ω cm) to 25 Ω/□ (2.5×10−4 Ω cm), while the optical transmittance in the visible range increased from 70% to more than 85%. Surface roughness and etching properties were also significantly improved following laser annealing.