Fabrications of Nb-doped TiO2 (TNO) transparent conductive oxide polycrystalline films on glass substrates by sol-gel method

Anatase Ti0.94Nb0.06O2 (TNO) films were fabricated on glass substrates by sol-gel method using a dip-coating technique. The annealing treatment was separated into two steps, first in air at 350-550 A degrees C for 1 h and then in vacuum of 4.0 x 10(-4) Pa at 550 A degrees C for 1 h. The influence of vacuum annealing treatment to the electrical and optical properties was discussed. Especially, the role of air annealing treatment from 350 to 550 A degrees C on the crystallization and the structure of the films was analyzed. It is proved that the films annealed at 550 A degrees C in air and then 550 A degrees C in vacuum exhibited the minimum resistivity of 19.3 Omega center dot cm and the average optical transmittance of about 75% in the visible range, indicating that the sol-gel method is a feasible and promising method to fabricate TNO films.