Effect of Magnetron Sputtering Power on ITO Film Deposition at Room Temperature

Magnetron sputtering in the medium frequency (MF) mode was used to obtain ITO films on glass substrates at room temperature in an oxygen-free environment. The effect of the magnetron sputtering power on the electrophysical properties and surface morphology of ITO films is studied. It is shown that the ITO film deposition rate depends linearly on the power of magnetron sputtering in the MF mode. It is found that ITO films have a predominantly nanocrystalline structure at a magnetron sputtering power of more than 100 W. Increasing the sputtering power leads to an increase in surface roughness from 13.5 to 24.6 nm and grain size from 11.7 to 27.5 nm in the ITO film. The minimum resistivity of the ITO films is 6.82 × 10–4 Ω cm at the concentration and mobility of charge carriers of 2.48 × 1020 cm–3 and 36.8 cm2/V s, which corresponds to the optimum power of magnetron sputtering of 200 W. The results obtained correspond to a high level of surface resistance values for ITO films (34.1 Ω/□), which can be used to form transparent conducting electrodes in solar cells and memristors, both on glass and flexible substrates.