• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.02a
• /
• pp.581-581
• /
• 2013

ITO (Indium Tin oxide)는 비화학 양론적 조성을 띄는 n-type 반도체 특성이 있으며 가시광 영역(380~780 nm)의 파장에 대한 높은 광 투과도(>85%)를 가지며 비교적 높은 전도도(${\sim}10^4/{\Omega}-cm$)를 갖고 화학적 안정성이 우수하여 투명전극 박막으로 많이 사용되어왔다. 또한, PET film은 전기절연성, 내후성이 우수하고, 85%의 투과율을 보이는 특성에 의하여 Flexible display의 기판으로 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 이와 같은 PET film에 ITO를 증착하여 광 투과도와 전기전도도가 우수한 Flexible display의 투명전극으로 많은 연구 개발이 이루어지고 있다. Flexible ITO 박막의 특성을 향상하기 위해서는 $200^{\circ}C$ 이상의 열처리 공정이 필요하지만, PET는 약 $200^{\circ}C$ 이상에서 열 변형이 일어나므로 열처리 공정이 어렵고 이러한 문제점을 해결하기 위해 ITO/PET film에서 PET film의 변형 없이 ITO 박막의 표면에 전자빔 형태로 조사하여 박막의 물성을 개선하는 연구가 진행되고 있다 [1]. 본 연구에서는 ITO/$SiO_2$가 증착된 PET film에 전자빔을 조사하여 ITO 박막의 물성 변화를 관찰하였고, 전자빔 에너지 변화 및 전자빔 조사 시간에 따라 ITO film의 전기적, 광학적 특성 변화를 분석하였다. 구조적 특성은 XRD (X-ray diffraction), 전기적 특성은 4-point probe, Hall measurement를 이용하였으며, 가시광영역의 광 투과도는 UV-Vis spectrometer로 측정하였다. 전기 광학적 특성 변화는 Figure of Merit (FOM) 수치로 분석하였다. 이 실험으로 PET film에 직접적인 열을 가하지 않으면서 ITO 박막의 표면에 전자빔을 조사 하여, 박막의 전기전도도 및 광 투과율, 결정성 향상 등을 관찰할 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.86-93
• /
• 2009

The crack formation and the resistance of ITO film on PET substrate with a thickness of 20 nm were investigated as a function of strain. The onset strain for the increase of resistance increased with increasing strain rate, suggesting the crack initiation is dependent on the strain rate. Electrical resistance increased at the strain of 1.6% at the strain rates below $10^{-4}/sec$ while it increased at ${\sim}2%$ at the strain rates above $10^{-3}/sec$. The critical strain at which the cracks were formed is close to the proportional limit. Upon loading, the initial cracks perpendicular to the tensile axis were observed and propagated the whole sample width with increasing strain. The spacing between horizontal cracks is thought to be determined by the fracture strength and the interfacial strength between ITO and PET. The crack density increased with increasing strain. However, the effect of the strain rate on the crack density was less pronounced in ITO/PET with 20 nm ITO thickness than ITO/PET with 125 nm ITO thickness, the strength of ITO film is thought to increase as the thickness on ITO film decreases. The absence of cracks on ITO film at a strain as close as 1.5% can be attributed to the compressive residual stress of ITO film which was developed during cooling after the coating process. The higher critical strain for the onset of the resistance increase and the crack initiation of ITO/PET with a thinner ITO film (20 nm) can be linked with the higher strength of the thinner ITO film.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.327-332
• /
• 2010

We report on the effect of PET substrate preheating on the characteristics of the flexible and transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode grown by a specially designed roll-to-roll sputtering system for touch panel applications. It was found that electrical and optical properties of the roll-to-roll sputter grown ITO film were critically dependent on the preheating of the PET substrate. In addition, the roll-to-roll sputter-grown ITO film after post annealing test at $140^{\circ}C$ for 90 min showed stable electrical and optical properties. The low sheet resistance and high optical transmittance of the ITO film grown on the preheated PET substrate demonstrate that the preheating process before ITO sputtering is one of the effective way to improve the characteristics of ITO/PET film. Furthermore, the superior flexibility of the ITO electrode grown on the preheated PET substrate indicates that the preheating treatment is a promising technique to obtain robust ITO/PET sample for touch panel applications.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.180-187
• /
• 2007

The indium tin oxide(ITO) film on PET was prepared by a wet coating method to obtain the transparent film with a high conductance. ITO nano-particles was synthesized by a SAS method at 15 MPa and $50^{\circ}C$, where optimized rate of In/Sn was 65. Average diameter and resistivity of ITO obtained from SAS are $15{\pm}2\;nm$ and $4{\times}10^4\;{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. Coating solution was prepared at pH 10. The ITO film was obtained by solution including 0.1 0.5, 1, and 2 ITO wt% on PET. Roughness(Ra) of ITO film with 0.1, 0.5, 1. and 2 ITO wt% is 4, 10, 12, and 16 nm. Resistivity with an increasing ITO concentration is $3.7{\times}10^6,\;2.4{\times}10^6,\;8{\times}10^5,\;and\;2{\times}10^5\;{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. Transmissivity of ITO film decreased as 89, 88, 86, and 82% with an increasing ITO concentration as 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 2 wt%.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.21-25
• /
• 2009

Using an evaporation system, $SiO_2$ was deposited as a buffer layer between a PET substrate and a ITO layer and then ITO/$SiO_2$/PET layers were annealed for 1.5 hours at the temperature of $180^{\circ}C$. Adhesion and electro-optical properties of ITO films were studied with thickness variance of a $SiO_2$ buffer layer. As a result of introduction of the $SiO_2$ buffer layer, sheet resistance and resistivity increased and a ITO film with optimum sheet resistance ($529.3{\Omega}/square$) for an upper ITO film of resistive type touch panel could be obtained when $SiO_2$ of $50{\AA}$ was deposited. And it was found that ITO films with $SiO_2$ buffer layer have higher transmittance of $88{\sim}90%$ at 550 nm wavelength than ITO films with no buffer layers and the transmittance was enhanced as $SiO_2$ thickness increased from $50{\AA}$ to $100{\AA}$. Adhesion property of ITO films with $SiO_2$ buffer layers became better than ITO films with no buffer layers and this property was independent of $SiO_2$ thickness variance ($50{\sim}100{\AA}$). By depositing a $SiO_2$ buffer layer of $50{\AA}$ on the PET substrate and sputtering a ITO thin film on the layer, a ITO film with enhanced adhesion, electro-optical properties could be obtained.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 2008

The multi-layer PET film of ITO/ATO was prepared by a wet coating method to obtain the transparent film with a high conductance at low cost. ITO nano-particles were synthesized by a SAS method at 15 MPa and $50^{\circ}C$, where optimized rate of In/Sn was 65. Average diameter and resistivity of ITO obtained from SAS are $15{\pm}2nm$ and $4{\times}10^4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. Coating solution was prepared at pH 10. Roughness (Ra), resistivity, and transmissivity of ATO film on PET are 9 nm, $5.5{\times}10^6{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, and 91%. The multi-layered film of ITO/ATO was obtained by solution including 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 ITO wt% on ATO layer. Roughness (Ra) of multi-layered film with 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 ITO wt% is 4, 10, 12, and 16 nm, respectively. Corresponding resistivity with an increasing ITO concentration is $3.7{\times}10^6$, $2.4{\times}10^6$, $8{\times}10^5$, and $2{\times}10^5{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. Transmissivity of ITO/ATO film decreases as 89, 88, 86, and 82% with an increasing ITO concentration as 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 wt%.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2009

In this study, the stress-strain response and the cracking behaviors of ITO film on a PET substrate are investigated. The cracking behaviors of ITO thin films deposited on a thermoplastic semi-crystalline polymer developed for flexible display applications was investigated by means of tensile experiments equipped with an electrical measurement apparatus and an in-situ optical microscope. Electrical resistance increased gradually in the elastic-to-plastic transition region of the stress strain curves and cracks formed. Numerous cracks were found in this region, and the increase of the resistance was linked to the cracking of ITO thin films. Upon loading, the initial cracks perpendicular to the tensile axis were observed at about 1% of the total strain. They propagated to the entire sample width as the strain increased. The spacing between the horizontal cracks is thought to be determined by the fracture strength and the thickness of the ITO film as well as by the interfacial strength between the ITO and PET. The effect of the strain rate on the cracking behavior was also investigated. The crack density increased as the strain increased. The spacing between the horizontal cracks (perpendicular to the stress axis) increased as the strain rate decreased. The increase of the crack density as the strain rate decreased can be attributed to the higher fraction of the plastic strain to the total strain at a given total strain. The higher critical strain for the onset of the increase in the resistance and the crack initiation of the ITO/PET with a thinner ITO film (300 ohms/sq.) suggests a higher strength of the thinner ITO film.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.192-196
• /
• 2011

The multi-layered thin film with an ITO/Ag/ITO structure was produced on PET by using magnetron reactive sputtering method. First, 30 nm of ITO thin film was coated on PET by using normal temperature process. Then 20-52 nm of the Ag thin film was coated. Lastly, 30 nm of ITO thin film was coated on Ag layer. The sample of the 20 nm Ag thin film showed more than 70% transmission and a $2.7{\Omega}/{\Box}$ sheet resistance. When compared to the existing single-layered transparent conducting thin film, multi-layered film was found to be superior with about $5{\Omega}/{\Box}$ less sheet resistance. However, since the Ag layer became thinner, the band gap energy needs to be increased to more than 3.5 eV.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.72-77
• /
• 2017

Purpose: The electrochemical corrosion behavior of tin oxide film coated on PET substrates has been studied under varying concentrations of acrylic acid to investigate possible corrosion in contact with the acidic environment. Method: Potentiodynamic test was performed for a commercial ITO/PET film in 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 M of acrylic acid. The surface morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Results: Potentiodynamic test results showed an increase in Icorr and decrease in Ecorr value with increasing concentration of acid. Microscopic evaluation suggested the presence of certain deep cracks on the surface of the film in addition with a severe acidic attack. Conclusion: Exposure of ITO to acrylic acid resulted in the stress corrosion cracking of ITO film due to the mechanical mismatch between brittle inorganic ITO fim and a compliant organic PET substrate leading to the subsequent failure of the film.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.32-37
• /
• 2008

The electrical, optical, structural and surface properties of an indium tin oxide (ITO) film grown on a flexible PET substrate using a specially designed roll-to-roll (R2R) sputtering system as a function of the DC power, $Ar/O_2$ flow ratio, and rolling speed is reported. It was observed that both the electrical and optical properties of the ITO film on the PET substrate were critically dependent on the $Ar/O_2$ flow ratio. In addition, x-ray diffraction examination results showed that the structure of the ITO film on the PET substrate was an amorphous structure regardless of the DC power and the $Ar/O_2$ flow ratio due to a low substrate temperature, which was maintained constant by a main cooling drum. Under optimized conditions, ITO film with resistivity of $6.44{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}-cm$ and transparency of 86% were obtained, even when prepared at room temperature. Furthermore, bending test results exhibited that R2R-grown ITO film had good flexibility which would be applicable to flexible displays and solar cells.