Effects of deposition angle on the thin film quality of indium tin oxide grown by single beam ion source-assisted magnetron sputtering

This work proves that the sputtering deposition angle has significant effects on the ITO film crystallinity and properties under the assistance of an ion beam at room temperature. The films grown at 30º and 45º are crystalline while the ones produced at 60º and 90º are amorphous in nature. The films’ sheet resistance was observed to be lower at 30º and 45º than at 60 and 90º. The films produced at 60º exhibited the highest optical peak transmittance ca. 90% followed by those grown at 45º ca. 84% in the visible region. Graphical abstract