• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.28-32
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• 2022

We investigated the optical and electrical characteristics of ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) 3-layer thin films prepared by using RF/DC sputtering. To measure the thickness of all thin film samples, we used scanning electron microscopy. As a function of Ag thickness we characterized the optical transmittance and sheet resistance of the IAI samples by using UV-Visible spectroscopy and Hall measurement system, respectively. While the thickness of both ITO thin films in the 3-layered IAI samples were fixed at 50 nm, we varied Ag layer thickness in the range of 0 nm to 11 nm. The optical transmittance and sheet resistance of the 3-layered IAI thin films were found to vary strongly with the thickness of Ag film in the ITO (50 nm)/Ag(t₀)/ITO (50 nm) thin film. For the best transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrode, we obtained a 3-layered ITO (50 nm)/Ag (t₀ = 8.5 nm)/ITO (50 nm) that showed an avrage optical transmittance, AVT = 90.12% in the visible light region of 380 nm to 780 nm and the sheet resistance, R_□ = 7.24 Ω/□.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.165-168
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• 2009

Transparent and conducting ITO/Cu/ITO multilayered films were deposited by magnetron sputtering on unheated polycarbonate (PC) substrates. The thickness of the Cu intermediate film was varied from 5 to 20 nm. Changes in the microstructure and optoelectrical properties of ITO/Cu/ITO films were investigated with respect to the thickness of the Cu intermediated layer. The optoelectrical properties of the films were significantly influenced by the thickness of the Cu interlayer. The sandwich structure of ITO 50 nm/Cu 5 nm/ITO 45 nm films had a sheet resistance of $36{\Omega}$/Sq. and an optical transmittance of 67% (contain substrate) at a wavelength of 550 nm, while the ITO 50 nm/Cu 20 nm/ITO 30 nm films had a sheet resistance of $70{\Omega}$/Sq. and an optical transmittance of 36%. The electrical and optical properties of ITO/Cu/ITO films were determined mainly by the Cu film properties. From the figure of merit, it is concluded that the ITO/Cu/ITO films with a 5 nm Cu interlayer showed the better performance in transparent conducting electrode applications than the conventional ITO films.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.86-93
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• 2009

The crack formation and the resistance of ITO film on PET substrate with a thickness of 20 nm were investigated as a function of strain. The onset strain for the increase of resistance increased with increasing strain rate, suggesting the crack initiation is dependent on the strain rate. Electrical resistance increased at the strain of 1.6% at the strain rates below $10^{-4}/sec$ while it increased at ${\sim}2%$ at the strain rates above $10^{-3}/sec$. The critical strain at which the cracks were formed is close to the proportional limit. Upon loading, the initial cracks perpendicular to the tensile axis were observed and propagated the whole sample width with increasing strain. The spacing between horizontal cracks is thought to be determined by the fracture strength and the interfacial strength between ITO and PET. The crack density increased with increasing strain. However, the effect of the strain rate on the crack density was less pronounced in ITO/PET with 20 nm ITO thickness than ITO/PET with 125 nm ITO thickness, the strength of ITO film is thought to increase as the thickness on ITO film decreases. The absence of cracks on ITO film at a strain as close as 1.5% can be attributed to the compressive residual stress of ITO film which was developed during cooling after the coating process. The higher critical strain for the onset of the resistance increase and the crack initiation of ITO/PET with a thinner ITO film (20 nm) can be linked with the higher strength of the thinner ITO film.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.349-355
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• 2000

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films have been deposited on PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and glass substrates by a do magnetron sputter method of powder target without heat treatments such as substrate heater and post heat treatment. During the sputtering deposition, sputtering parameters such as sputtering power, working pressure, oxygen gas mixture, film thickness and substrate-target distance are important factors for the high quality of ITO thin films. The structural, electrical and optical properties of as-deposited ITO oxide films are investigated by sputtering power, oxygen partial pressure and films thickness among the several sputtering conditions. XRD patterns of ITO films are affected by sputtering power and pressure. As the power and pressure are increased, (411) and (422) peaks of ITO films are grown strongly. Electrical resistivity is also increased, as the sputtering power and pressure are increased. Transmittance of ITO thin films in the visible light ranges is lowered with an increase of sputtering power and film thickness. Reflectance of ITO films in infra-red region is decreased, as the power and pressure is increased.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.740-744
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• 2017

Herein we studied the electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films for application in transparent conducting electrodes. The ITO and Ag thin films were deposited onto soda lime glass (SLG) using radiofrequency and DC-sputtering methods, respectively. The as-synthesized ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films were analyzed using 4-point probe, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. We observed a rapid increase in electron concentration with increasing Ag thickness. However, electron mobility decreased with increasing Ag thickness. Finally, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films showed a characteristic low sheet resistance of $18{\Omega}/sq$ and high optical transmittance value (80%) with variation of Ag thickness (5~10 nm).

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.260-263
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• 2011

GZO/ITO double layered films were deposited on unheated non-alkali glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering using an ITO ($SnO_2$: 10 wt%) and GZO($Ga_2O_3$: 5.57 wt%) ceramic targets, respectively. The electrical resistivity of GZO/ITO films depends on the thickness ratio between the GZO film and ITO film. With increasing ITO film thickness, the resistivity of GZO/ITO films decreased which due to large increase in the Hall mobility. Also, the crystallinity of GZO/ITO film was improved with an increase in ITO thickness which was evaluated by X-ray diffraction. The average transmittance of the films was more than 85% in the visible region, which is slightly higher than ITO single layer films.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.162-169
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• 2017

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films show a low sheet resistance and high transmittance in the visible range of the spectrum. Therefore, they play an important role as transparent electrodes for flat panel displays. However, their resistivity is rather high for use as a transparent electrode in large displays. One way to improve electrical and optical properties in large displays is to use ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films. ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films have lower sheet resistance than single layer ITO films with the same thickness. Prior to the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer experiments, optimal condition for thickness change are necessary. Their thicknesses were deposited differently in order to analyze electrical and optical properties. However, when optimal single film characteristics are applied to ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films, other phenomena appeared. After analyzing the electrical and optical properties by changing ITO and Ag film thickness, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films were optimized. By combining ITO film at $586\;{\AA}$ and Ag film at 10 nm, the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films showed optimized high optical transmittance of 87.65%, and the low sheet resistance of $5.5{\Omega}/sq$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.257.1-257.1
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• 2014

We investigated characteristics of ITO/Ag-Pd-Cu (APC)/ITO multilayer electrodes prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering for use as an anode in organic solar cells (OSCs). To optimize electrical properties of ITO/APC/ITO multilayer, we fabricated the ITO/APC/ITO multilayer at a fixed ITO thickness of 30 nm as a function of APC thickness. Compare to the surface of Ag layer on ITO, the APC had a smooth surface morphology. At optimized APC thickness of 12 nm, the ITO/APC/ITO multilayer exhibited a sheet resistance of $6{\Omega}/square$ and optical transmittance of 84.15% at a wavelength of 550 nm which is comparable to conventional ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer. However, the APC-based ITO multilayer showed a higher average transmittance in a visible region than the Ag-based ITO multilayer. The higher average transmittance of ITO/APC/ITO multilayer indicated the multilayer is suitable anode for organic solar cells with P3HT:PCBM active layer. OSCs fabricated on the optimized ITO/ACP/ITO multilayer exhibited a better performance with a fill factor of 64.815%, a short circuit current of $8.107mA/cm^2$, an open circuit voltage of 0.59 V, and power conversion efficiency (3.101%) than OSC with ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer (2.8%).

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.1856-1858
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• 2005

In this study, Indium Tin Oxide(ITO) thin films were prepared at $O_2$ gas 0.2 sccm, no heating to substrate and working pressure 1mTorr with varying deposition time. We estimated structural, optical, electrical characteristics of ITO thin films as function of ITO thin films thickness. As a result, XRD peaks increased with increasing the thickness. The ITO thin film was fabricated with resistivity $4.23{\times}10^{-4}[{\Omega}{\cdot}cm]$, carrier mobility $52.9[cm^2/V{\cdot}sec]$, carrier concentration $2.79{\times}10^{20}[cm^{-3}]$. And we also observed that the SEM images of ITO thin films surface.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.253-260
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• 2024

In this study, ITO thin films were fabricated on a glass substrate at different thicknesses without introducing oxygen using RF sputtering system. The structural, electrical, and optical properties were evaluated at various thicknesses ranging from 50 to 300 mm. As the thickness of deposited ITO thin film become thicker from 50 to 100 mm, carrier concentration, mobility, and band gap energy also increased while the resistivity and transmittance decreased in the visible light region. When the film thickness increased from 100 to 300 mm, the carrier concentration, mobility, and band gap energy decreased while the resistivity and transmittance increased. The optimum electrical properties were obtained for the ITO film 100 nm. After optimizing the thickness, the ITO thin films were post-annealed at different temperatures ranging from 100 to 300℃. As the annealing temperature increased, the ITO crystal phase became clearer and the grain size also increased. In particular, the ITO thin film annealed at 300℃ indicated high carrier concentration (4.32 × 10²¹ cm^-3), mobility (9.01 cm²/V·s) and low resistivity (6.22 × 10^-4 Ω·cm). This means that the optimal post-annealing temperature is 300℃ and this ITO thin film is suitable for use in solar cells and display application.