The role of Ar plasma treatment in generating oxygen vacancies in indium tin oxide thin films prepared by the sol-gel process

•Indium tin oxide thin film with about 41 nm thickness was obtained by the sol-gel process.•Thin film exhibited low resistivity.•Sheet resistance of thin film decreases with Ar plasma treatment time.•Ar plasma treatment on thin film does not alter the crystal structure and optical properties of the ITO thin-film.•There is no significant change in oxygen vacancies after 20min of plasma treatment.