Electrical and optical properties of Eu-doped indium oxide thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering.

Eu-doped In2O3 (EIO) thin films were deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering on glass substrates with varying growth temperatures. All the EIO thin films showed a significant dependence on the growth temperature. From the figure of merit index data, the optimum growth temperature for depositing high-quality EIO thin films was found to be 300 degrees C. The ELO thin film deposited at 300 degrees C showed a highly preferential growth orientation along the (222) plane with an average particle size of 160 nm, bandgap energy of 3.94 eV, average optical transmittance of 65.2% in the wavelength range 450-1100 nm, and electrical resistivity of 2.5 x 10(-3) Ω cm. These results indicate that the electrical and optical properties of EIO thin films can be modulated by controlling growth temperature.