P‐38: A Study on the Difference of Thermal Behavior by Crystallization Method

Indium‐Tin‐Oxide (ITO) / Ag (Silver) / ITO triple layer, are often used as anode electrodes, but when the Ag is eluted, they cause many problems, such as poor dark spots. In this paper, the thermal behavior of the upper ITO, which is presumed to be the most relevant, was observed to identify the cause of this defect. The ITO layer is deposited in an amorphous state during initial deposition to create a pattern. After patterning, it is crystallized by heat treatment to obtain electrical and physical characteristics. However, it was confirmed that partial crystallization was already in progress at initial deposition due to changes in thickness. Partial crystallization was mainly observed at the meeting points of the three Ag grains. It was also confirmed that the process of heat treatment led to different crystallization than the initial partial crystallization. The crystallization areas formed in these heterogeneous states showed different thermal behavior. Stress caused by different thermal behaviors accelerated as heat treatment progressed, producing pin‐holes after the heat treatment was completed. Thus, the number of pin‐holes increases as heterogeneous states increase, resulting in a difference in the level of Ag elution defect. In conclusion, a decrease in the number of triple points an Ag Grain meets can reduce dissimilarity and consequently reduce the probability of pin‐hole occurrence. Therefore, expanding the size of the Ag Grain is effective in reducing the defect of Ag elution.