We describe a novel solid state crystallisation method for optimising a thin film transparent
conductive oxide when deposited on flexible polymer substrates. The method is based on
ultra-short non-thermal laser sintering of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films. In this study, we
used commercial ITO thin films deposited on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate
with a relatively low melting temperature compared with ITO on glass. We demonstrate the use
of laser scanning with high pulse overlapping at fluences seven times less than the threshold
required for melting/damage of ITO. The results confirm greater than four times enhancement in
the mobility of charge carriers of ITO thin films after laser scanning and sheet resistance can be
reduced up to 25%. There is no reduction in optical transparency observed in laser treated
samples. Surface morphology and x-ray diffraction analyses confirm the improvement in
crystallite sizes by laser sintering, resulting in a greater than 37% increase in grain size due to
enhanced crystallization. Comparison of experimental and simulation based on a delayed two
temperature model confirms that ITO thin film crystallization occurred at about one-third of the
melting temperature of ITO.
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Funders:
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund under Grant Numbers 12/RC/2276 and 16/RC/3872, GO’C ‘s contribution is also supported by EU INTERREG Project EAPA 384 2016, ‘AtlanticKETMED
ID Code:
25683
Deposited On:
30 Mar 2021 12:49 by
Vidatum Academic
. Last Modified 20 May 2022 16:35