REACTIVE SPUTTERING OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTING TIN OXIDE

Tin was sputtered from a d.c. planar magnetron target in a confined volume. Stability was maintained in the reactive sputtering by controlling the oxygen partial pressure through observation of the light emitted by the oxygen in the plasma of the magnetron. The material deposited on the walls of the chamber was used to getter the system of impurities. The oxygen consumption at the set point was a good indication of the approach to stoichiometry of the film. It was observed that transparent conducting films were prepared at the point where the oxygen consumption indicated a break from full incorporation into the growing film. Films there had a resistivity of 100-mu-OMEGA-m for a 600-OMEGA/open-square-box sheet resistance, a thickness of about 150 nm.