Transparent and conductive multicomponent oxide films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Transparent and conductive thin films of multicomponent oxides composed of binary and/or ternary compounds with varied chemical compositions have been prepared by rf or dc magnetron sputtering. Transparent conducting oxide (TCO)films were prepared in multicomponent oxides composed of ZnO, SnO 2 , Ga 2 O 3 , or MgO combined with In 2 O 3 or ZnO combined with SnO 2 , containing ternary compounds such as Zn 2 In 2 O 5 , In 4 Sn 3 O 12 , GaInO 3 , MgIn 2 O 4 , and ZnSnO 3 . In addition, the TCOfilms were prepared in a multicomponent oxide composed of combinations of these ternary compounds. In particular, the Zn 2 In 2 O 5 and In 4 Sn 3 O 12 films exhibited a resistivity of 2×10 −4 Ω cm , comparable to that of indium–tin–oxide films.TCOfilms could always be obtained in multicomponent oxides consisting of combinations of metal oxides as long as these oxides were TCOfilm materials or transparent conductors; the mixture ratio of the components could be varied over all possible compositions. The electrical, optical, and chemical properties, the band-gap energy, and the work function of these transparent conducting multicomponent oxide films could be controlled by changing the composition. Consequently, transparent conducting multicomponent oxide films are suitable for specialized applications because their electrical, optical, and chemical properties as well as physical properties can be controlled by altering the chemical composition.