WORK FUNCTION OF TRANSPARENT CONDUCTING MULTICOMPONENT OXIDE THIN-FILMS PREPARED BY MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

The work function of transparent conducting multicomponent oxide (TCO) films is reported. TCO films consisting of binary oxides, such as In2 O3, SnO2 and ZnO, and ternary oxides, such as Zn2In2O5, In4Sn3O12, GaI nO3, ZnSnO3 and MgIn2O4, were prepared by magnetron sputtering. In add ition, transparent conducting films consisting of multicomponent oxide s composed of combinations of these binary or ternary oxides were also prepared by magnetron sputtering. The work function of these TCO film s was measured by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy operated in a ir. It was found that the work function as well as the electrical, opt ical and chemical properties of transparent conducting multicomponent oxide films could be controlled by varying the chemical composition. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.