Enhanced transmittance of ITO/Ag(Cr)/ITO (IAI) multi-layered thin films by high temperature annealing

Electrical, optical and structural properties of ITO/Ag(Cr)/ITO (IAI) multilayer films have been investigated for transparent conducting electrode (TCE) application. Comparing to optical and electrical properties of as-deposited IAI films, high temperature (500°C) annealed films exhibited a significant enhancement in optical transmittance (%T) of 96% (at 550nm wavelength) with an electrical resistivity (ρ) of 7×10–5Ωcm, which has been rarely reported in low temperature annealing. The interlayer Ag(Cr) film was effective to maintain structural stability of the IAI films even up to 500°C. Beyond this temperature, the structural damage caused by metallic nanoparticles formation on the IAI surface leads to degrade the electrical and optical properties of the film. The isolated particles appeared on the IAI multilayer were confirmed as Ag by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis.