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• Niobium-doped indium oxide (InNbO) was prepared by co-sputtering technique. • InNbO is compact and uniform without obvious pores and cracks. • InNbO is cubic bixbyite polycrystalline structure. • The resistivity of InNbO is as low as 8.29 × 10–3 Ω· cm when the Nb content is 1.8 at%. • InNbO exhibits high optical transmittance from visible to near-infrared wavelength regions. Indium oxide (In 2 O 3) based thin films have attracted much attention due to their high transparency and low resistivity. In order to obtain good transmittance and high conductivity, niobium (Nb) element was chosen as dopant in In 2 O 3 in this study. Nb-doped In 2 O 3 thin films (InNbO) were deposited on substrate by co-sputtering technique. The influence of Nb content on the structural, optical and electrical properties of InNbO thin films was systematically investigated. These thin films are compact and uniform without obvious pores and cracks. And InNbO is cubic bixbyite structure similar to In 2 O 3. When Nb content is 1.8 at%, the resistivity of InNbO is as low as 8.29 × 10−3 Ω·cm. The prepared thin films exhibit high optical transmittance from visible to near-infrared wavelength regions. The average transmittance of InNbO thin films can reach 80.74 % in visible light range (380 ∼ 750 nm), and 75.71 % in near-infrared region (750 ∼ 2400 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a materially and structurally designed barrier thin film with a self-wrinkling morphology, which consists of composites of amorphous alumina (a-Al 2 O 3) and polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO). The pure ZnO, Al 2 O 3 films, and Al 2 O 3 -ZnO composited film are deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by magnetron co-sputtering at room temperature. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) for the composited film with about 30 % ratio of Al 2 O 3 to ZnO is down to 0.026 g·m−2·day−1 from 1.184 g·m−2·day−1 of pure ZnO film at 38 °C/90 % RH, indicating that the nanocomposite structure of amorphous Al 2 O 3 and crystalline ZnO can significantly improve the water-resistance performance. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the amorphous Al 2 O 3 can dramatically suppress the defect fraction within ZnO from 4.65 % to 0.08 %. Furthermore, a self-wrinkling morphology with Al 2 O 3 -ZnO composited film deposited on PET/acrylic is designed to have the WVTR value as low as 1.30 × 10−3 g·m−2·day−1. Due to the stress release when forming micro-scale wrinkles, the more smooth and dense Al 2 O 3 -ZnO composited film can markedly sharpen up the barrier property. The low WVTR barriers via amorphous and crystalline hybrid composites with self-wrinkling morphology by magnetron sputtering potentially serve as a low-cost and large-scale production path for electronics encapsulation as compared to atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). [Display omitted] • Al 2 O 3 -ZnO film with an appropriate Al 2 O 3 ratio reduces water vapor transmission rate. • Amorphous Al 2 O 3 -crystalline ZnO hybrid film is deposited by magnetron co-sputtering. • A defect-mediated model for a single film on PET is proposed and applied to the system. • Al 2 O 3 -ZnO film with self-wrinkling morphology markedly sharpens up barrier property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a materially and structurally designed barrier thin film with a self-wrinkling morphology, which consists of composites of amorphous alumina (a-Al 2 O 3) and polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO). The pure ZnO, Al 2 O 3 films, and Al 2 O 3 -ZnO composited film are deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by magnetron co-sputtering at room temperature. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) for the composited film with about 30 % ratio of Al 2 O 3 to ZnO is down to 0.026 g·m−2·day−1 from 1.184 g·m−2·day−1 of pure ZnO film at 38 °C/90 % RH, indicating that the nanocomposite structure of amorphous Al 2 O 3 and crystalline ZnO can significantly improve the water-resistance performance. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the amorphous Al 2 O 3 can dramatically suppress the defect fraction within ZnO from 4.65 % to 0.08 %. Furthermore, a self-wrinkling morphology with Al 2 O 3 -ZnO composited film deposited on PET/acrylic is designed to have the WVTR value as low as 1.30 × 10−3 g·m−2·day−1. Due to the stress release when forming micro-scale wrinkles, the more smooth and dense Al 2 O 3 -ZnO composited film can markedly sharpen up the barrier property. The low WVTR barriers via amorphous and crystalline hybrid composites with self-wrinkling morphology by magnetron sputtering potentially serve as a low-cost and large-scale production path for electronics encapsulation as compared to atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). [Display omitted] • Al 2 O 3 -ZnO film with an appropriate Al 2 O 3 ratio reduces water vapor transmission rate. • Amorphous Al 2 O 3 -crystalline ZnO hybrid film is deposited by magnetron co-sputtering. • A defect-mediated model for a single film on PET is proposed and applied to the system. • Al 2 O 3 -ZnO film with self-wrinkling morphology markedly sharpens up barrier property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]