High-Quality Transparent Conducting Oxide Films Deposited by a Novel Ion Plating Technique

A novel ion plating technique that has the attributes of both superb controllability of the high density plasma used as well as ion beam shape has been developed and applied to the deposition of transparent conducting oxides. The advantages of this technique include reduced ion damage, scale-up capability, in-plane uniformity, the use of low growth temperatures and fast deposition rates suggesting that the technique is very promising for a variety of applications such as solar cells and organic device fabrication. Gallium doped zinc oxide films have been deposited on glass substrates at 200°C. Resistivities as low as ρ∼2.7×10^-4Ω-cm with high transparency have been demonstrated. In addition, this technique has been successfully applied to large area deposition such as 65 cm × 55 cm-sized glass substrates.