CHARACTERIZATION OF INDIUM-TIN OXIDE-FILMS BY MEANS OF ION-IMPLANTED NUCLEAR PROBES

Indium-tin oxide films of different tin content(0.0, 1.0, and 10 met. at.%) have been prepared on unheated glass substrates by means of elec tron beam evaporation under oxygen partial pressures of typically 5 x 10(-4) hPa, annealed at 250 degrees C, and characterized optically and electrically. Samples of these films have been implanted with radioac tive In-111 probes at an energy of 400 keV. Subsequently, gamma gamma perturbed angular correlations were observed during the decay of In-11 1 to Cd-111. We detect the electric quadrupole interactions which are characteristic of the nuclear tracers on substitutional cation sites i n the bixbyite structure of In2O3. Sn atoms and intrinsic defects indu ce a damping of the respective hyperfine modulations. The results are compared to our previous investigation of Sn-doped In2O3 bulk samples and possible applications are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A .