Effects of Nitrogen Flow Rate on the Properties of Indium Oxide Thin Films

Indium oxide thin films are deposited on glass substrates at nitrogen flow rates of 0-50% by rf reactive magnetron sputtering and are characterized for their structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties. The experimental results showed that the control of nitrogen flow rate has a significant effect on the properties of the In2O3 thin films. The change in the preferred growth orientation from (222) to (400) planes is observed above a nitrogen flow rate of 10%. The average optical transmittance in the wavelength range of 400-1100 nm is increased from 85.4% at 0% to 86.7% at 50%, where the smallest value of the optical band gap energy is obtained. In addition to the improvement in crystallinity of the films, the nitrogen flow rate plays a crucial role in the fabrication of high-quality indium oxide films and devices.