Effect of annealing on the properties of RF sputtered indium molybdenum oxide thin films

Indium molybdenum oxide thin films radio-frequency sputtered at room temperature on glass were studied as a function of oxygen volume percentage. The as-deposited films were post-annealed in the temperature range of 300–500 °C in oxidizing (open air) and reducing (N2:H2 gas) atmospheres for 1 h. The as-deposited amorphous films become crystalline on post-annealing irrespective of the annealing conditions. In most cases, the (2 2 2) diffraction line is emerged as the high intensive peak. The films annealed at ⩾400 °C in N2:H2 show a carrier concentration >1020 cm−3. The better electrical properties are obtained for the films post-annealed at 300 °C. The optical transmittance of the as-deposited films varies between 10% and 85% depending on the deposition and annealing conditions. Atomic force microscope analysis reveal that the films annealed at 300 °C are composed of closely packed crystallites (size of which varies between 5 nm and 150 nm) whose size varies noticeably when the annealing temperature is raised to 400 °C. On the other hand, the surface of the films annealed at 500 °C becomes rougher, with the RMS roughness varying between 2.00 nm and 16.97 nm. The surface of the films deposited in the presence of oxygen shows metal like features when annealed at ⩾400 °C in N2:H2 that is attributed to the segregation of indium. Further, the segregation of In is substantiated from the scanning electron microscope analysis of these samples.