Preparation and characterization of ITO films deposited on polyimide by reactive evaporation at low temperature

Sn-doped indium oxide (ITO) films have been prepared on polyimide (PI) thin film substrate at low substrate temperature (80-240 degrees C) by reactive evaporation. The samples were deposited as polycrystalline films with a cubic bixbyite structure and a preferred orientation with the (111) plan parallel to the substrate. The structural, optical and electrical properties of the obtained films depending on deposition temperature have been investigated. High quality films with resistivity as low as 7 X 10(-4) Omega cm and transmittance over 80% have been obtained by suitably controlling the deposition parameters. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.