Oxide sintered body

• US 7,011,691 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2003
• Issued: 03/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Metal Mining Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Metal Mining Company Limited
• Inventors: Abe, Yoshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): MAI, NGOCLAN THI
• Application Number:
  US10/441,980
• Publication Number:
  US 20040040414A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• Field of Search: 752/32, 423/624, 501/134
• US Class Current: 75/232
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3258 Tungsten oxides, tungstates, or oxide-forming salts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3286 Gallium oxides, gallates, indium oxides, indates, thallium oxides, thallates or oxide forming salts thereof, e.g. zinc gallate
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/5436 micrometer sized, i.e. from 1 to 100 micron
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/5445 submicron sized, i.e. from 0,1 to 1 micron
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/664 Reductive annealing
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/76 Crystal structural characteristics, e.g. symmetry
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/80 Phases present in the sintered or melt-cast ceramic products other than the main phase
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/96 Properties of ceramic products, e.g. mechanical properties such as strength, toughness, wear resistance
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 35/01 based on oxide ceramics
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 35/64 Burning or sintering processes C04B33/32 takes precedence ; powder metallurgy B22F
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 1/08 oxides

Abstract

An oxide sintered body is composed mainly of indium and containing tungsten, has a resistivity of no more than 1 kΩcm. The tungsten content in terms of the W/In atomic ratio is preferably at least 0.001 and no more than 0.17. The oxide sintered body comprise mainly a bixbyite structure indium oxide crystal phase containing tungsten in a solid solution and/or an indium tungstate compound crystal phase, with no tungsten oxide crystal phase present, whereby an oxide sintered body for use as a sputtering target is provided for an oxide based transparent conductive film with low resistance and excellent transmission characteristics for the infrared light region.

Claims

1. An oxide sintered body composed mainly of indium and containing tungsten, wherein the oxide sintered body comprises mainly a bixbyte structure indium oxide crystal phase containing tungsten in a solid solution and/or an indium tungstate compound crystal phase and wherein no tungsten oxide crystal phase is contained and having a resistivity of up to 1 kΩ

cm.

2. An oxide sintered body of claim 1, wherein the resistivity is up to 50 Ω

cm.

3. An oxide sintered body of claim 1, wherein the resistivity is up to 1 Ω

cm.

4. An oxide sintered body of claim 1, wherein the resistivity is up to 1×

10<sup>−

2</sup>Ω

cm.

5. An oxide sintered body of claim 1, wherein the resistivity is up 1×

10<sup>−

3</sup>Ω

cm.

6. An oxide sintered body of claim 1, wherein the tungsten is contained by an amount from 0.001 to 0.17 in W/In of atomic ratio.

7. An oxide sintered body composed mainly of indium and containing tungsten and tin, wherein the oxide sintered body comprises mainly a bixbyte structure indium oxide crystal phase containing tungsten and tin in a solid solution and/or an indium tungstate compound crystal phase and/or an indium stannate compound crystal phase and wherein no tungsten oxide crystal phase is contained and having a resistivity of up to 1 kΩ

cm.

8. An oxide sintered body of claim 7, wherein the resistivity is up to 60 Ω

cm.

9. An oxide sintered body of claim 7, wherein the resistivity is up to 1 Ω

cm.

10. An oxide sintered body of claim 7, wherein the resistivity is up to 1×

10<sup>−

2</sup>Ω

cm.

11. An oxide sintered body of claim 7, wherein the resistivity is up to 1×

10<sup>−

3</sup>Ω

cm.

12. An oxide sintered body of claim 7, wherein the tungsten is contained by an amount from 0.001 to 0.17 in W/In of atomic ratio, and wherein the tin is contained by an amount from 0.001 to 0.15 in Sn/In of atomic ratio.