Preparation of indium tin oxide targets with a high density and single phase structure by normal pressure sintering process

The present work mainly describes the technology for preparing indium-tin oxide （ITO） targets by cold isostatic pressing （CIP） and normal pressure sintering process. ITO powders were produced by chemical co-precipitation and shaped into an ITO green compact with a relative density of 60% by CIP under 300 MPa. Then, an ITO target with a relative density larger than 99.6% was obtained by sintering this green compact at 1550℃ for 8 h. The effects of forming pressure, sintering temperature and sintering time on the density of the target were inves- tigated. Also, a discussion was made on the sintering atmosphere.

Preparation of High Quality Indium Tin Oxide Film on a Microbial Cellulose Membrane Using Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Microbial cellulose （MC） membranes produced by Acetobacter xylinum NUST4.1,were used as flexible substrates for the fabrication of transparent indium tin oxide （ITO） electrodes.Transparent and conductive ITO thin films were deposited on MC membrane at room temperature using radio frequency （RF） magnetron sputtering.The optimum ITO deposition conditions were achieved by examining crystalline structure,surface morphology and op-toelectrical characteristics with X-ray diffraction （XRD）,scanning electron microscopy （SEM）,atomic force mi-croscopy （AFM）,and UV spectroscopy.The sheet resistance of the samples was measured with a four-point probe and the resistivity of the film was calculated.The results reveal that the preferred orientation of the deposited ITO crystals is strongly dependent upon with oxygen content （O2/Ar,volume ratio） in the sputtering chamber.And the ITO crystalline structure directly determines the conductivity of ITO-deposited films.High conductive [sheet resis-tance ～120 Ω·square-1 （Ω·sq-1）] and transparent （above 76%） ITO thin films （240 nm thick） were obtained with a moderate sputtering power （about 60 W） and with an oxygen flow rate of 0.25 ml·min-1 （sccm） during the deposi-tion.These results show that the ITO-MC electrodes can find their potential application in optoelectrical devices.

Preparation of Indium Tin Oxide Films on Polycarbonate substrates by Radio-frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Indium tin oxide（ITO）thin films（100±10nm）were deposited on PC（polycarbonate）and glass substrates by rf（radio-frequency）mannetron spuutering.The oxygen content of the ITO films was changed by variation of the sputtering gas composition.All the other deposition parameters were kept constant.The sheet resistance.optical transmittance and microstructure of ITO films were investigated using a four-point probe.spectrophotometer,X-ray diffractometer（XRD）and atomic force microscope（AFM）.Sheet resistances for the ITO films with optical transmittance more than 75% on PC substrates varied from 40Ω/cm^2 to more than 104 Ω/cm^2 with increasing oxygen partial pressure from O to about 2%.The same tendeney of sheet resistances increasing with increasing oxygen partial pressure was observed on glass substrates.The X-ray diffraction data indicated polycrystalline filns with grain orientations predominantly along（440）and （422）directions.The intensities of （440）and （422）peaks increased slightly with the increase of oxygen partial pressure both on PC and glass substrates.The AFM images show that the ITO films on PC substrates were dense and uniform.The average grain size of the films was about 40nm.

Electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide/epoxy composite film

The electrical and optical properties of the indium tin oxide （ITO）/epoxy composite exhibit dramatic variations as functions of the ITO composition and ITO particle size. Sharp increases in the conductivity in the vicinity of a critical volume fraction have been found within the framework of percolation theory. A conductive and insulating transition model is extracted by the ITO particle network in the SEM image, and verified by the resistivity dependence on the temperature. The dependence of the optical transmittance on the particle size was studied. Further decreasing the ITO particle size could further improve the percolation threshold and light transparency of the composite film.

Isothermal thermo-analytical study and decomposition kinetics of non-activated and mechanically activated indium tin oxide(ITO) scrap powders treated by alkaline solution

Isothermal decomposition process of chemically transforming indium tin oxide（ITO） powders into indium（III） hydroxide powders was investigated. Two types of powders were analyzed, i.e., non-activated and mechanically activated. It has been found that in the case of activated sample, shorter induction periods appear, which permits growth of smaller crystals, while in the case of non-activated sample, long induction periods appear, characterized by the growth of larger crystals. DAEM approach has shown that decomposition processes of non-activated and mechanically activated samples can be described by contracting volume model with a linear combination of two different density distribution functions of apparent activation energies（Ea）, and with first-order model, with a single symmetrical density distribution function of Ea, respectively. It was established that specific characteristics of particles not only affect the mechanism of decomposition processes, but also have the significant impact on thermodynamic properties.

Synthesis and sintering of indium tin oxide nanoparticles by citrate-nitrate combustion method

Spherical indium tin oxide （ITO） nanoparticles were synthesized by combustion method using citric acid as fuel and nitrates as oxidizer. The obtained ITO nanoparticles were characterized by TG-DSC, FT-IR, XRD, BET, TEM, and SEM. The ITO nanoparticles grew steadily with the increase of heat treatment temperature, and the 700~C calcined particles had a crystallite size of 25.3 nm and a specific surface area of 26.1 m2.g i The avoidance of chlorine ions in the synthesis process decreases particle agglomeration and promotes powder densification. The 900~C sintered pellet had a density of 67.6% of theoretical density （TD） and increased steadily to 97.3% for the 1400℃ sintered ceramics, respectively.

Effect of Sn^(4+) content on properties of indium tin oxide nanopowders

Indium tin oxide(ITO)nanopowders were prepared by a modified chemical co-precipitation process.The influence of different SnO2 contents on the decomposition behavior of ITO precursors,and on the phase and morphology of ITO precursors and ITO nanopowders were studied by X-ray diffractometry,transmission electron microscopy and differential thermal and thermogravimetry analysis methods.The TG-DSC curves show that the decomposition process of precursor precipitation is completed when the temperature is close to 600 ℃and the end temperature of decompositionis somewhat lower when the doping amount of SnO2 is increased.The XRD patterns indicate that the solubility limit of Sn4+ relates directly to the calcining temperature. When being calcined at 700℃,a single phase ITO powder with 15%SnO2(mass fraction)can be obtained.But,when the calcining temperature is higher than 800℃,the phase of SnO2 will appear in ITO nanopowders which contain more than 10%SnO2.The particle size of the ITO nanopowders is 15-25 nm.The ITO nanoparticles without Sn have a spherical shape,but their morphology moves towards an irregular shape when being doped with Sn4+.

Improvement of the light output and contact resistance of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes based on tantalum-doped indium tin oxide as p-type electrodes

This paper reports that highly transparent and low resistance tantalum-doped indium tin oxide （Ta-doped ITO） films contacted to p-type GaN have been prepared by the electron-beam evaporation technique. The Ta-doped ITO contacts become Ohmic with a specific contact resistance of $／sim 5.65／times 10^{ - 5}$$／Omega ／cdot$cm$^{2}$ and show the transmittance of $／sim $98% at a wavelength of 440nm when annealed at 500／du. Blue light emitting diodes （LEDs） fabricated with Ta-doped ITO p-type Ohmic contact layers give a forward-bias voltage of 3.21V at an injection current of 20mA. It further shows that the output power of LEDs with Ta-doped ITO contacts is enhanced 62% at 20mA in comparison with that of LEDs with conventional Ni/Au contacts

Work Function Enhancement of Indium Tin Oxide via Oxygen Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation

Indium tin oxide （ITO） transparent conducting film was treated with oxygen plasma immersion ion implantation （PIII）. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） was employed to characterize the effect. The results suggested that the oxygen content in the surface was increased and maintained for more than 50 h compared with traditional plasma-treated samples. Meanwhile, the work function of ITO estimated by comparing the peak shift in the XPS diagram suggested a corresponding increase by more than 1 eV.

Enhanced performance in organic photovoltaic devices with a KMnO_4 solution treated indium tin oxide anode modification

The properties of poly（3-hexylthiophene）：（6,6）-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester （P3HT：PCBM） organic pho- tovoltaic devices （OPVs） with an indium tin oxide （ITO） anode treated by a KMnO4 solution are investigated. The optimized KMnO4 solution has a concentration of 50 rag/L, and ITO is treated for 15 min. The modification of ITO anode results in an enhancement of the power conversion efficiency （PCE） of the device, which is responsible for the increase of the photocurrent. The performance enhancement is attributed to the work function modification of the ITO substrate through the strong oxygenation of KMnO4, and then the charge collection efficiency is improved.

Fabrication and Properties of DC Magnetron Sputtered Indium Tin Oxide on Flexible Plastic Substrate

Indium tin oxide （ITO） thin films deposited on flexible polyethylene terephthalate （PET） substrates at low temperature by DC magnetron sputtering from an In-Sn （90-10 wt pct） alloy target were studied. The correla- tion between deposition conditions and ITO property was systematically investigated and characterized. These as-deposited ITO films were used as the anode contact for flexible organic light-emitting diodes （FOLEDs）. The fabricated FOLEDs with a structure of PET/ITO/NPB （50 nm）/Alq （20 nm）/Mg：Ag （100 nm） showed a maximum luminance of 2125 cd/m^2 at 13 V.

Work Function Optimization Technology of Indium Tin Oxide Films

Indium tin oxide(In_(2)O_(3)∶Sn)film is one of the most potential materials in the field of semiconductor industry.However,untreated In2O3∶Sn film has a low work function which can result in a high energy barrier that hinders the passage of carriers through the interface,thus leading to poor overall performance of directly prepared devices.In this study,crystalline transparent conductive In_(2)O_(3)∶Sn films were prepared by plasma exposure assisted magnetron sputtering under room temperature.Based on multiple testing methods,it can be found that the low temperature crystallization characteristics of In_(2)O_(3)∶Sn film were enhanced and the work function was effectively improved after Ar^(+)plasma exposure.The increase of the work function of In_(2)O_(3)∶Sn film was due to the increment of Sn⁃O bond on the surface brought by the transition from low oxidation state Sn^(2+)to high oxidation state Sn^(4+)under the action of high exposure.

Optical transparent metamaterial structure for microwave-infrared-compatible camouflage based on indium tin oxide

A visible transparent metamaterial absorber was designed and fabricated with ultrabroadband microwave absorption and low infrared emissivity to meet the increasing demand for multispectral compatible camouflage. The absorber was fabricated with a low-infrared emissive layer at the top, a microwave-absorbing layer in the middle, and a reflective layer at the bottom, which were separated by polymethyl methacrylate plates. The absorber showed an average visible transmittance of 55%, infrared emissivity of ~0.37, and effective microwave absorption bandwidth of 32.1 GHz with a total thickness of 3.0 mm. Furthermore,microwave absorption exhibited wide-angle stability and polarization insensitivity characteristics. The mechanism of microwave attenuation was further explored through effective electromagnetic parameters as well as surface current, electric field, magnetic field, and energy loss density distributions. The experimental results were consistent with those of the simulations and calculations, indicating the potential of the designed metamaterial absorber for future applications in multispectral compatible camouflage.

Novel seed-assisted synthesis of indium tin oxide submicro-cubes and their resistivity

Indium tin oxide films,an important n-type semiconductor oxide,show great prospects in optoelectronic device applications.Consequently,as a key raw material of targets for sputtering films,it is important to prepare low-resistivity indium tin oxide powders.Herein,low-resistivity indium tin oxide submicro-cubes are synthesized by a seed-assisted coprecipitation method.The effects of seed content,In^(3+)concentration,aging time,reaction temperature and calcination temperature on resistivity were investigated by single factor and orthogonal experiments.To ensure reliability and reproducibility of data,each experiment was repeated three times and resistivity of each sample was measured three times to obtain average value.The results indicated that optimal sample was matched with cubic phase In_(2)O_(3).The single-crystal indium tin oxide particles exhibited a regular cubic shape with a size of nearly 500 nm and low resistivity of 0.814Ω·cm.Compared with particles prepared by the conventional coprecipitation method,indium tin oxide submicro-cubes showed good dispersion.The presence of seed particles provided nucleation sites with lower energy barriers and promoted formation of submicro-cubes.The face-to-face contact among particles and good dispersion contributed to electron transfer,resulting in lower resistivity.The seed-assisted synthesis provides a novel way to prepare low-resistivity indium tin oxide submicro-cubes.

A Cost-Effective Co-precipitation Method for Synthesizing Indium Tin Oxide Nanoparticles without Chlorine Contamination

Indium tin oxide （ITO） nanoparticles with crystallite size of 12.6 nm and specific surface area of 45.7 m 2 ·g-1 were synthesized by co-precipitation method.The indium solution was obtained by dissolving metal indium in HNO3.The tin solution was obtained by dissolving metal tin in HNO3 and followed by stabilizing with citric acid.The free of chlorine ions in the synthesis process brought several advantages：shortening the synthesis time,decreasing the particle agglomeration,decreasing the chlorine content in the ITO nanoparticles and improving the particle sinterability.This is the first time to report the synthesis of ITO nanoparticles free from chlorine contamination without using the expensive metal alkoxides as starting materials.

Influence of Annealing Temperature on the Microstructure and Electrical Properties of Indium Tin Oxide Thin Films

Indium tin oxide （ITO） thin films were prepared on alumina ceramic substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The samples were subsequently annealed in air at temperatures ranging from 500 to 1,100 ℃ for 1 h. The influences of the annealing temperature on the microstructure and electrical properties of the ITO thin films were investigated, and the results indicate that the as-deposited ITO thin films are amorphous in nature. All samples were crystallized by annealing at 500 ~C. As the annealing temperature increases, the predominant orientation shifts from （222） to （400）. The carrier concentration decreases initially and then increases when the annealing temperature rises beyond 1,000 ℃. The resistivity of the ITO thin films increases smoothly as the annealing temperature increases to just below 900 ℃. Beyond 900 ℃, however, the resistivity of the films increases sharply. The annealing temperature has a significant effect on the stability of the ITO/Pt thin film thermocouples （TFTCs）. TFTCs annealed at 1,000 ℃ show improved high- temperature stability and Seebeck coefficients of up to 77.73 pV/℃.

Soft chemistry based sponge-like indium tin oxide a prospective component of photoanode for solar cell application

Previously we reported the synthesis of novel organic-inorganic compo- site indium tin oxide （ITO） foam precursor leading to the formation of ＂sponge-like＂ ITO by burning away the organics, This newly made sponge-like ITO possesses relatively high electrical conductivity due to phonon confinement with reasonable pore structure and may have potential application as functional materials in semiconducting dye absorbing layer in dye-sensitized solar cell （DSSC） and also as the receptor of electrons injected from the quantum dots （QDs） of organic-inorganic hybrid QD based solar cell. This report is a short review of ＂sponge-like＂ ITO described as a lecture note on its future use as an alternative new prospective material for photoanode of solar cell in the domain of sustainable energy,

Photovoltaic properties of ferroelectric solar cells based on polycrystalline BiFeO_3 films sputtered on indium tin oxide substrates

To study the ferroelectric photovoltaic effect based on polycrystalline films, preparation of high-quality polycrystalline films with low leakage and high remnant polarization is essential. Polycrystalline BiFeO3 （BFO） thin films with extremely large remnant polarization （2Pr = 180 ~aC/cm2） were successfully deposited on glass substrates coated with indium tin oxide using a modified radio frequency magnetron sputtering method. Symmetric and asymmetric cells were constructed to investigate the ferroelectric photovoltaic effect in order to understand the relationship between polarization and photovoltaic response. All examined cells showed polarization-induced photovoltaic effect. Our findings also showed that the ferroelectric photovoltaic effect is highly dependent on the material used for the top electrode and the thickness of the polycrystalline film.

A sol-gel method to synthesize indium tin oxide nanoparticles

Transparent conductive indium tin oxide （ITO） nanoparticles were synthesized by a novel sol-gel method. Granulated indium and tin were dissolved in HNO3 and partially complexed with citric acid. A sol-gel process was induced when tertiary butyl alcohol was added dropwise to the above solution. ITO nanopartides with an average crystallite size of 18.5 nm and surface area of 32.6 m^2 ]g were obtained after the gel was heat-treated at 700 ℃, The ITO nanoparticles showed good sinterability, the starting sintering temperature decreased sharply to 900 ℃, and the 1400 ℃ sintered pellet had a density of 98.1% of theoretical density （TD）.

Gold nanoparticles attached NH^(2+) ion implantation-modified indium tin oxide electrode:Characterization and electrochemical studies

An NH2+ ion implantation-modified indium tin oxide film was prepared and the implantation of amino groups on the indium tin oxide substrate was verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis.The gold nanoparticles attached surface could be obtained by self-assembly of different sized colloidal gold nanoparticles onto the NH2+ ion implantation-modified indium tin oxide surface.By scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical techniques,the as-prepared AuNPs attached NH2+ ion implantation-modified indium tin oxide electrode was characterized and compared with bare indium tin oxide electrode.Using a [Fe(CN)6]3 /[Fe(CN)6]4 redox probe,the increasingly facile heterogeneous electron transfer kinetics resulting from the attached gold nanoparticle arrays was observed.The gold nanoparticle arrays exhibited high catalytic activity toward the electro-oxidation of nitric oxide,which could provide electroanalytical application for nitric oxide sensing.