A TIME-RESOLVED REFLECTIVITY STUDY OF THE AMORPHOUS-TO-CRYSTALLINE TRANSFORMATION KINETICS IN DC-MAGNETRON SPUTTERED INDIUM TIN OXIDE

Amorphous tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) was deposited to a thickness of 110 nm on [100]-oriented Si substrates at similar to 40-60 degrees C by dc-magnetron sputtering under a total Ar pressure of 2 Pa. The kine tics of crystallization of the a-ITO films in flowing N-2 were investi gated by in situ time-resolved reflectivity. The microstructure of the films in the as-deposited, partially recrystallized and fully regrown conditions was established using a combination of plan view and cross -section transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The experimental reflectivity vs time curves were analyzed using clas sical nucleation and growth kinetic analysis. Various transformation m odels are proposed and are combined with Fresnel reflectivity calculat ions for direct comparison to the experimentally obtained data. The ac tivation energy for the crystallization in flowing N-2 Of these amorph ous ITO films in N-2 gas was found to be 0.67+/-0.18 eV. (C) 1998 Amer ican Institute of Physics.