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Plasma pretreatment of polycarbonate substrates for indium zinc oxide film deposition
Author(s) -
Zhang Xuan,
Lang Jianlin,
Yan Yue,
Zhang Xiaofeng,
Zhong Yanli,
Li Lei
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.6142
Subject(s) - materials science , amorphous solid , microstructure , annealing (glass) , surface roughness , sputter deposition , sputtering , thin film , chemical engineering , oxide , plasma etching , electrical resistivity and conductivity , polycarbonate , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , nanotechnology , etching (microfabrication) , layer (electronics) , metallurgy , chemistry , crystallography , electrical engineering , chromatography , engineering
The influence of plasma treatment of polycarbonate (PC) substrates on the morphological, electrical, and adhesion properties of deposited amorphous transparent indium zinc oxide (IZO) by direct current magnetron sputtering was investigated by analyzing atomic force microscopy, contact angles, Hall, and nano‐scratch measurements. The surfaces of PC substrates were performed by plasma treatment at various processing times in Ar/O 2 mix atmosphere. The atomic force microscopy images indicated that the microstructure of the substrates considerably influenced the surface morphology of deposited IZO films, and the least surface roughness of IZO was obtained after 5‐s plasma treatment. The IZO film deposited on PC with 5‐s plasma treatment presented an improved electrical conductivity and thermal stability after annealing at 120 °C in air, whereas the significant decrease in carrier concentration and increase in resistivity with extending plasma treatment time were observed, which was attributed to the elevated oxygen adsorption during annealing for a loosely packed structure. Moreover, the adhesion properties of IZO films with PC substrates decreased after 30‐s plasma treatment because of the significant difference on the surface polarity between the PC and thin films and the increased roughness caused by plasma etching. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.