Desenvolvimento de filmes finos de Óxido de Índio-Estanho para aplicação em dispositivos orgânicos eletroluminescentes

Abstract

In this work, thin films of Indium-Tin Oxide (ITO) were grown onto glass and quartz substrates by R.F. Magnetron Sputtering deposition technique at room temperature. The objective of this work was to study the influence of deposition parameters on the electrical, optical and structural properties of these films. Electrical, optical and structural characterizations were performed, by Hall Effect measurements, UV-VIS optical absorption and X-ray diffraction, respectively. It was observed that the deposition parameters – sputtering power and working pressure– have a strong influence on the electrical and structural properties of ITO thin films, but the optical transmittance in the visible region (400 ˂ λ ˂ 700) nm was always above 80 % for all films at 550 nm. By means of the XRD measurements, we verified that the films showed small orientation in the direction [111] and the crystallinity of the films increased with the increase of the sputtering power. The optimization of growth parameters reduced the electrical resistivity of the films mainly because of the increase of carrier concentration and carrier mobility. Thin films with the best electrical properties were obtained with sputtering power of 140 W, working pressure of 0.08 mbar and argon flow of 300 sccm. The best ITO thin films had electrical resistivity of 8.81 x 10⁻⁴ Ωcm, mobility of 9.98 cm²/Vs, and carrier concentration of 6.30 x 10²⁰ cm⁻³ together with a high optical transmittance of 97.7 % at 550 nm and a band gap of 3.78 eV. The optimized film was used as cathode in an organic light-emitting diode (OLEDs) that presented a satisfactory efficiency when compared to a similar device made with commercial ITO. The next step was to produce a Transparent Organic Light Emitting Diode (TOLED), which emits light from both sides by using ITO transparent films for both anode and cathode. To do so, ITO films were deposited on top of organic active layers, which are sensitive to high sputtering powers. So a new series of depositions with different working pressures were performed with a fixed power of 40 W. The best film with this smaller power was obtained with working pressure of 0.08 mbar and argon flow of 300sccm. These films presented, as electrical resistivity, mobility and carrier concentration, 3.99 x 10⁻³ Ωcm, 2.07 cm2 / Vs and 7.55 x 10²⁰ cm⁻³, respectively. They also showed a transmittance above 92 % for 400 < λ < 700 nm and band gap of 3.50 eV. Through X rays difraction measurements, we verified that all films deposited with low sputtering power presented an amorphous band with diffraction peaks referring to the [111] direction with low intensity, indicating that the films are practically amorphous. Finally, the results of the characterization of TOLEDs presented, using the optimized ITO films made with a sputtering power of 40 W.