Power and gas pressure effects on properties of amorphous In–Ga–ZnO films by magnetron sputtering

Amorphous In – Ga – ZnO thin films were deposited on quartz glass substrate at room temperature utilizing radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Sputtering power and oxygen flow rate effects on the physical properties of the In – Ga – ZnO films were systematically investigated. It is shown the film deposition rate and the conductivity of the In – Ga – ZnO films increased with the sputtering power. The as-grown In – Ga – ZnO films deposited at 500 W exhibited the Hall mobility of 17.7 cm 2 /Vs. Average optical transmittance of the In – Ga – ZnO films is greater than 80% in the visible wavelength. The extracted optical band gap of the In – Ga – ZnO films increased from 3.06 to 3.46 eV with increasing the sputtering power. The electrical properties of the In – Ga – ZnO films are greatly dependent on the O 2 /Ar gas flow ratio and post-growth annealing process. Increasing oxygen flow rate converted the In – Ga – ZnO films from semiconducting to semi-insulating, but the resistivity of the films was significantly reduced after being annealed in vacuum. Both the as-grown and annealed In – Ga – ZnO films show n-type electrical conductivity.