Effects of annealing on the properties of indium–tin oxide films prepared by ion beam sputtering

ITO films were deposited by ion beam sputtering, and was favorable to have the 〈100〉 texture with the increase of annealing time. The oxygen content decreased with the increase of annealing time, corresponding to the increase of oxygen vacancies. The electrical conductivity was primarily due to the contribution of oxygen vacancies. The resistivity decreased to a minimum of 1.77×10−4 Ω cm at 450 V after annealing at 500 °C for 60 min, but increased with the further increase of ion beam voltage. The carrier concentration and mobility both increased due to annealing. The optical transmission in the visible region of ITO films increased after annealing, but only slightly increased with the increase of ion beam voltage.