Investigation of the Annealing Effect on Roughening of ITO Thin Films Surfaces

Thin films of Indium tin oxide (ITO) were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature (RT) by electron beam evaporation and then annealed in air at different temperatures for an hour. The thin film structure and surface roughening were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The evolution of surface structure of the thin films during the deposition and annealing was investigated by mathematical methods. Fractal dimensions of the ITO thin films surfaces as a function of annealing temperatures were determined using box counting method. The results indicated that the surface roughening of the ITO thin films occurs during annealing process

Keywords:

ITO , Thin film , Fractal dimension