Electrical and optical properties of new transparent conducting oxide In ₂O ₃:Ta thin films

In ₂O ₃:Ta (InTaO) films were deposited on Corning # 1737 glass substrates from a ceramic target In ₂O ₃:Ta (In ₂O ₃: Ta ₂O ₅ = 85 wt.%:15 wt.%) target by using dc magnetron sputtering at various temperatures and oxygen partial pressures. The dependences of the electrical properties (i.e. resistivity, carrier concentration, and Hall mobility) and optical properties of InTaO films on deposition temperatures and oxygen partial pressures were studied. The carrier type of the InTaO films was found to be n-type. The resistivity, the carrier density, the Hall mobility, and the band gap of the InTaO films were in the range of 1.3 ∼ 70 mΩ·cm, 1.2 ∼ 6.5 × 10 ²⁰/cm ², 0.5 ∼ 16 cm ²V·s, and 3.60 ∼ 3.93 eV, respectively, The average optical transmittance of typical InTaO films for wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm was about 80 %.