Crystallization kinetics of amorphous tin-doped indium oxide thin films

The crystallization kinetics of amorphous tin-doped indium oxide thin films grown by dc magnetron sputtering and electron beam evaporation was investigated using time-resolved laser reflectivity in conjunction with TEM analyses. The as-grown films were established to be amorphous using glancing angle x-ray and selected area electron diffraction. The samples were then annealed at temperatures ranging from (;Time-resolved laser reflectivity was an advantageous tool for monitoring the progress of the crystallization transformation because the technique generates quantifiable data while allowing real-time, non-contact observation. Plotting the transformation rate as a function of annealing temperature demonstrated the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation to be a thermally activated process. The energy required to crystallize sputtered a-ITO films in flowing N;In this study, the pre- and post-anneal microstructures were examined to deduce possible processes by which transformation occurred. Models of the crystallization mechanisms are proposed and simulated on a computer. The calculated results are compared with the experimentally obtained data to gain further insight into the transformation routes.