Studies on the electrical and optical properties of reactive electron beam evaporated indium tin oxide films

Abstract

Highly conducting ( rho =2.5*10^-4 Omega cm) and transparent (92%) tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films have been prepared by a reactive electron beam evaporation technique; the dependence of these properties on the substrate temperature (150-275 degrees C) and tin doping (0-15% by weight) has been studied. Hall mobility in the films has been found to increase with substrate temperature and decrease with the addition of tin. An attempt has been made to distinguish the different scattering mechanisms responsible for electrical conduction; it is found that the grain boundary scattering is negligibly small in these films. An analysis of the optical data has been made to evaluate the broadening parameter and the Burstein-Moss shift in optical band gaps.