Korean Journal of Materials Research ISSN:1225-0562(Print) 2287-7258(Online) 한국재료학회지

Sn-doped In₂O₃ (ITO) thin films were deposited on bare glass and on glass with a SiO₂ buffer layer using radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature, and the structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films were considered according to changes in the thickness of the upper ITO film and the lower SiO₂ buffer layer. While the 100 nm-thick ITO monolayer film showed a visible transmittance of 80.52 % and an electrical resistivity of 2.0 × 10^-3 Ωcm, the ITO 70 nm/SiO₂ 30 nm double layered film showed an increased visible transmittance of 83.38 % and a decreased electrical resistivity of 1.3 × 10^-3 Ωcm. Also, since the surface roughness of the ITO 70 nm/SiO₂ 30 nm films (1.66 nm) was lower than that of the ITO films (2.31 nm), it was concluded that having an effective thickness of SiO₂ buffer layer can improve the flatness of the ITO/SiO₂ thin film. In addition, the work function of the ITO/SiO₂ film is influenced by the SiO₂ buffer layer, and it has been shown that the work function of the ITO/SiO₂ film (4.63 eV) is higher than that of ITO single layer film. Comparing optical transparency and electrical resistivity in this study, the ITO 70 nm/SiO₂ 30 nm films showed a relatively better electro-optical performance index (figure of merit) than the ITO 100 nm monolayer thin film.