Influence of substrate temperature on the properties of indium oxide thin films

Pure indium oxide (In2O3) and SnO2-doped In2O3 (5 and 10 wt %) films were deposited on glass at different substrate temperatures (Ts) ranging from room temperature (RT=25 °C) to 350 °C using pulsed laser deposition. At low Ts (RT to 100 °C), pure In2O3 films yielded the lowest resistivity of (1.8–2.5)×10−4 Ω cm and the resistivity increased sharply with an increase in Ts, and the rise in the resistivity of pure In2O3 films resulted mainly from a decrease in carrier concentration and Hall mobility. For SnO2-doped In2O3 films, the resistivity decreased from 3.5×10−4 to 1.3×10−4 Ω cm with increasing Ts from RT to 350 °C and the reduction in the resistivity is associated with thermal activation of Sn leading to an increase in carrier concentration. Amorphous films were obtained at RT, but from Ts of 100 °C, the films appeared polycrystalline with orientation in the 〈111〉 plane. From atomic force microscopy, minimum surface roughness (Ra)⩽1.3 nm was obtained at RT and Ts>200 °C. Between 100 and 150 °C, Ra was maximum (2.5–4.9 nm). The films also exhibited high optical transmittance (>85%) to visible light.