Properties and surface morphology of indium tin oxide films prepared by electron shower method

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were prepared by electron beam evaporation (EB) with an electron shower. Lawnlike and VLS (vapor-liquid-solid) whiskers of ITO were grown at 300°C on the surface of the film with and without the electron shower, respectively. The electron resistivity of the ITO film fabricated with the electron shower was 4×10-4 Ωcm, which was one order of magnitude smaller than that prepared by the EB at the same substrate temperature (300°C). The electron shower activated the oxidation of In and Sn, but the film was oxygen deficient. The increasing crystallization of the oxygen deficient ITO film was the cause of the decreasing resistivity.