Transparent conductive indium tin oxide film fabricated by dip-coating technique from colloid precursor

Transparent conductive ITO films were fabricated on soda lime float glass substrate by colloid dip-coating technique from indium metal ingots and tin metal ingots. The structure and morphology were analyzed by using XRD, AFM, SEM and AES (Auger electron spectroscopy); the electrical and optical properties of the ITO thin films were investigated by using the four-probe instrument and UV–VIS spectrophotometer respectively. The results indicate that only cubic In2O3 phase is observed by the X-ray diffraction and that the sheet resistance values decrease with the increase of the coating thickness and the annealing temperature. The transmittances of the ITO films are more than 84.8% at a wavelength of 550 nm. ITO films with a thickness of 300 nm have the lowest resistance of 138.5 Ω/sq and the minimum resistivity of ρ = 4.1 × 10− 3 Ω cm; The RMS roughness is 11.5 nm and the transmittance is 89.6% at a wavelength of 550 nm. The AES depth profile spectra show that there is a transition layer between the ITO layer and the SiO2 layer.