Optimization of polymer substrate's surface treatment for improvement of transparent conducting oxide thin film

투명전도막의 특성향상을 위한 기판 표면처리법의 최적화

In this study, commercially available polyethylene terephthalate(PET), which is widely used as a substrate of flexible electronic devices, was modified by dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) method in an air condition at atmospheric pressure, and aluminium - doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) transparent conducting film was deposited on PET substrate by r. f. magnetron sputtering method. Surface analysis and characterization of the plasma-treated PET substrate was carried out using contact angle measurements, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Especially the effect of surface state of PET substrate on some important properties of ZnO:Al transparent conducting film such as electrical and morphological properties and deposition rate of the film, was studied experimentally. The results showed that the contact angle of water on PET film was reduced significantly from $62^{\circ}$ to $43^{\circ}$ by DBD surface treatment at 20 min. of treatment time. The plasma treatment also improved the deposition rate and electrical properties. The deposition rate was increased almost linearly with surface treatment time. The lowest electrical resistivity as low as $4.97{\times}10^{-3}[\Omega-cm]$ and the highest deposition rate of 234[${\AA}m$/min] were obtained in ZnO:Al film with surface treatment time of 5min. and 20min., respectively.