Study on In–Zn–Sn–O and In–Sn–Zn–O films deposited on PET substrate by magnetron co-sputtering system

In–Sn–Zn–O (ITZO) and In–Zn–Sn–O (IZTO) films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by magnetron co-sputtering using two cathodes (DC, RF) at room temperature. In the case of the ITZO films, their resistivity increased with increasing Zn content, indicating that the impurity Zn atoms did not contribute to carrier generation. However, it can be confirmed that the introduction of the Zn atoms effectively improved both the surface morphology and mechanical properties measured by the bending test. On the other hand, in the case of the IZTO films, the lowest resistivity (3.17 × 10− 4 Ω cm) was obtained for the film deposited at a SnO2 RF power of 40 W, which was due to the increase of the carrier density. It can be said that impurity Sn atom was an effective dopant for IZO. However, the introduction of Sn atoms degraded both the surface uniformity and mechanical properties of the films.