Room Temperature Laser Deposited Indium Tin Oxide Films for Display Applications

Abstract

AbstractIndium tin oxide is the most basic transparent electrode material for all flat panel displays. Commercial ITO glass is manufactured mostly by sputtering. Here, we report the use of pulsed laser deposition to produce ITO thin films on glass at room temperature. Several interesting properties of such films were observed. (1) It was found that the resistivity of 0.5mΩ-cm compared very well with the best published values produced at high deposition temperatures. Room temperature deposition affords the possibility of using plastics and other flexible substrates for displays. (2) The microstructure of these ITO films were quite different from those of commercial ITO glasses. (3) By passing a strong current through the film, a large thermally induced Δnl could be observed. This change was due to lateral stress and could be as large as 1μ m for a 1-μm thick film. An electro-optic shutter can easily be designed with such films. Applications of this electronically controlled Δnl to display technology are discussed.