It was recalled that indium tin oxide films post-annealed in air usually had a higher

resistivity as compared with films post-annealed in vacuum. This was attributed to

the incorporation of oxygen atoms into the films during post-annealing in air. Here,

a study was made mainly of the electrical properties of films as a function of postannealing

temperature and post-annealing ambient. The results showed that films

post-annealed in vacuum had a lower resistivity when compared to films postannealed

in air. From the results, a model of oxygen diffusion was related to the

AFM images and the (400)/(222) XRD peak ratio. It was observed that films postannealed

in vacuum had a larger grain size in AFM images. The reduction in grainboundary

scattering led to higher conductivity. Furthermore, films post-annealed in

vacuum had a rather constant (400)/(222) XRD peak ratio. This result indicated

that fewer oxygen atoms were diffused into the films under vacuum. Films which

were post-annealed at 500C in vacuum had a grain size of about 125nm and a

resistivity of about 3.49 x 10−4Ωcm.

Correlation Between Diffraction Patterns and Surface Morphology to the Model of

Oxygen Diffusion into ITO Films. M.K.Chong, K.Pita, S.T.H.Silalahi: Materials

Chemistry and Physics, 2009, 115[1], 154-7