Effects of Atomic Oxygen Irradiation on Transparent Conductive Oxide Thin Films

Transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film is a kind of functional material which has potential applications in solar cells and atomic oxygen (AO) resisting systems in spacecrafts. Of TCO, ZnO:Al (ZAO) and In2O3:Sn (ITO) thin films have been widely used and investigated. In this study, ZAO and ITO thin films were irradiated by AO with different amounts of fluence. The as-deposited samples and irradiated ones were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Hall-effect measurement to investigate the dependence of the structure, morphology and electrical properties of ZAO or ITO on the amount of fluence of AO irradiation. It is noticed that AO has erosion effects on the surface of ZAO without evident influences upon its structure and conductive properties. Moreover, as the amount of AO fluence rises, the carrier concentration of ITO decreases causing the resistivity to increase by at most 21.7%.