Study on reactive sputtering to deposit transparent conductive amorphous In2O3–ZnO films using an In–Zn alloy target

Abstract Amorphous indium–zinc-oxide films were deposited in the “transition region” by reactive sputtering using an In–Zn alloy target with a specially designed double feedback system. The cathode voltage showed a V- and circle-shaped curve as a function of O 2 gas flow in the transition region, which differs from the S-shaped curve in Berg's model for reactive sputtering depositions. In-situ analyses with a quadrupole mass spectrometer combined with an energy analyzer revealed that the negative ions O − , O 2 − , InO − , and InO 2 − , with high kinetic energies corresponding to the cathode voltage, were generated at the partially oxidized target surface. Furthermore the positive ions O + , Ar + , In + , and Zn + with rather low kinetic energies (around 10 eV) were confirmed to be generated by the charge exchange of sputtered neutral O, Ar, In and Zn atoms, respectively.