Method of forming ITO film

• US 7,309,405 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2004
• Issued: 12/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: P B Limited (Balfour Beatty Plc)
• Original Assignee: P & I Corporation
• Inventors: Cho, Jun-Sik, Han, Young-Gun, Beag, Young-Whoan, Koh, Seok-Keun
• Primary Examiner(s): McDonald, Rodney G.
• Application Number:
  US10/751,972
• Publication Number:
  US 20040140198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• Field of Search: 204/192.11, 204/192.12, 204/192.29
• US Class Current: 204/192.29
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/086 of zinc, germanium, cadmium, indium, tin, thallium or bismuth
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/3492 Variation of parameters during sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/46 by ion beam produced by an external ion source
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/103 comprising indium oxides, e.g. ITO
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/60 Forming conductive regions or layers, e.g. electrodes

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of forming an ITO film by optimized sequential sputter deposition of seed and bulk layers having different sputter process conditions, which is applicable to various display devices, and more particularly, to an organic light-emitting device needing an ultra-planarized surface roughness. In forming a transparent conducting electrode of a display device on a transparent substrate with an ITO film including a seed layer and a bulk layer, a method of forming the ITO film includes a first sputter deposition step of forming the ITO film on the substrate with sputtering gas supplied to an ion source at an ambience of oxygen flowing in the vicinity of the substrate and a second sputter deposition step of forming the ITO film with the sputtering gas supplied to the ion source only, wherein the first and second sputter deposition steps have different process conditions, respectively and wherein the seed and bulk layers are deposited by the first or second sputter deposition step.

Claims

1. In forming a transparent conducting electrode of a display device on a transparent substrate with an ITO film including a seed layer and a bulk layer, a method of forming the ITO film, comprising:

a first sputter deposition step of forming the seed layer having a crystal orientation, wherein a sputtering gas is supplied and there exists an ambience of oxygen flowing in the vicinity of the substrate; and

a second sputter deposition step of forming the bulk layer on said seed layer, wherein the sputtering gas is supplied only,

wherein the bulk layer assumes the crystal orientation of the seed layer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a pre-treatment is performed on a surface of the substrate to clean or to form functional groups thereon using plasma or ion beam.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein an adhesion between the ITO film and the substrate is enhanced by the pre-treatment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the seed layer is 1˜

100 nm to be smaller than that of the bulk layer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the display device is selected from the group consisting of a liquid crystal display, a plasma display panel, a touch panel, and an organic light emitting device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transparent substrate is a glass substrate formed with one of sodalime glass, non-alkali glass, and borosilicate glass, a polymer substrate formed one of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PC (polycarbonate), and PES (polyethersulfone), or the glass or polymer substrate coated with metal, ceramic, or polymer such as Cr, Mo, TiO₂, SiO₂, hard-coating, acrylate based coating, or color filter coating.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sputter deposition step is selected from the group consisting of DC magnetron sputtering, RF magnetron sputtering, medium frequency magnetron sputtering, and ion beam sputtering.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sputtering gas is sputtered to a target material to form the ITO film on the substrate.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a deposition process condition of the bulk layer determines sheet resistance of the ITO film.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a deposition process condition of the seed layer determines crystallinity of the ITO film.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said second sputter deposition step is performed in the absence of oxygen flowing in the vicinity of the substrate.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the crystal orientation is.