Deposition of low-resistivity ITO on plastic substrates by DC arc-discharge ion plating

Abstract Low-resistivity SnO 2 doped In 2 O 3 (ITO) transparent conductive films were successfully deposited on SiO 2 -coated plastic substrates using d.c. arc-discharge ion plating. A resistivity of 2.45×10 −4 Ω cm was achieved at a substrate temperature of 100 °C. The films had a polycrystalline structure with a [111] preferred orientation and the strongest peak was at (222). The average grain size of the films was approximately 500 nm. The visible transparency of the films was approximately 80%, and no deformation of the substrate was observed.