In order to clarify the contribution to carrier density by oxygen vacancies in tin-doped indium oxide films prepared on glass substrates by the hot-cathode plasma sputtering method, an investigation was made of the effect of annealing on the electrical properties of a tin-doped indium oxide film with a resistivity of 1.0 x 10− 4Ωcm. A drastic decrease in carrier density from 2.0 x 1021 to 0.88 x 1021/cm3 was found, with a gradual increase in the Hall mobility from 29 to 35cm2/Vs for repeated annealing cycles, when the tin-doped indium oxide film was exposed for one hour to 400C oxygen gas at atmospheric pressure. The results indicated that the contribution of oxygen vacancies to carrier density was about 1.12 x 1021/cm3 for tin-doped indium oxide film with an overall carrier density of 2.0 x 1021/cm3.

Contribution to Carrier Densities of the Oxygen Vacancy in a Low-Resistivity Tin-Doped Indium Oxide Film by the Hot-Cathode Plasma Sputtering Method. A.Kono, T.Nagai, F.Shoji: Materials Letters, 2010, 64[5], 622-4