Abstract
Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on a glass slide at a thickness of 280 nm by radio frequency(rf) magnetron sputtering from a ceramic target composed of $In_2O_3\;(90\%)\;+\;SnO_2\;(10\%)$. We investigated the effects of the annealing temperature (Ta) between 200 and 350'E for 30 min in air on such properties as thermal stability, surface morphology, and crystal structure of the films. X-ray diffraction spectra revealed that all the films were oriented preferably with [222] direction and [440] direction and the peak intensity increased with increasing annealing temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the sodium was out-diffused from the glass substrate at the annealing temperature of $350^{\circ}C$. The sodium composition of the ITO film amlealed at $350^{\circ}C\;for\;30\;min\;was\;2.5\%$ at the surface. Also the sodium peak almost disappeared after 3 keV $Ar^+$sputtering for 6 min. The visible transmittance of all ITO films was over $77\%$.