Thermal Effect on Characteristics of IZTO Thin Films Deposited by Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering

This study examined In-Zn-Sn-O (IZTO) films deposited on glass substrates by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with various substrate temperatures. The structural, electrical, optical properties were analyzed. Xray diffraction showed that the IZTO films prepared at temperatures > $150^{\circ}C$ were crystalline which adversely affected the electrical properties. Amorphous IZTO films prepared at $100^{\circ}C$ showed the best properties, such as a low resistivity, high transmittance, figure of merit, and high work function of $4.07{\times}10^{-4}\;{\Omega}$, 85%, $10.57{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}^{-1}$, and 5.37 eV, respectively. This suggests that amorphous IZTO films deposited at relatively low substrate temperatures ($100^{\circ}C$) are suitable for electrode applications, such as OLEDs as a substitute for conventional crystallized ITO films.