Optical and electrical characterization of TiO2- based transparent conductive oxides

Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) are already widely used in the optoelectronic industry e.g. as electrodes for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), or thin film solar cells. Less attention has been devoted to their optical properties and thermal stability until now.
In this work, Tantalum doped TiO2 and SnO2 TCO films are investigated with respect to their structural, optical, and electrical properties at temperatures from RT to 700°C. The films are prepared at room temperature by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering from metallic as well as ceramic targets and subsequently isothermally annealed at temperatures of 425°C. For compositional and structural analysis x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) are used. The optical properties are determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry, spectral photometry, and subsequent modelling. Hall effect measurements are used to determine the electrical properties of the TCO films.
The as-deposited layers are amorphous and isolating. By thermal annealing they are activated and become conductive.