Compositional analysis and optical properties of Ag-doped ITO films

ITO and Ag-ITO composite films were deposited on glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. Scanning electron microscope images indicated that Ag existed in the form of nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis illustrated that both Ag doping and heat treatment had obvious influence on the composition and element chemical state of the films. Ag doping dramatically decreased the transmittance of the film. But after being annealed, Ag-ITO films exhibited the high average transmittance of 80-90% in visible wavelength range. By using the spectroscopic ellipsometry optimization, the optical constants were extracted from the transmittance spectra. The results suggested the potential use of Ag-ITO films for antireflection coating system. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.