ITO thin films for the common electrode in Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AM-LCD's), i.e. used in the Colour Filter (CF) plane, are typically deposited on the CF-glass at elevated temperatures and with low deposition rates. Such rates are achieved with limited magnetron power which is beneficial for maintaining the CF-integrity and for reducing nodule growth on the target. A completely new playground originates however in case rotary sintered ceramic ITO targets are used for the same process. Not only do such targets allow the use of higher power loads, the coating deposition process also suffers less from particles as nodule formation is quasi completely avoided. This offers a lot of perspectives for newly tuned, more economic processes. This study looks at ITO coating properties (both electrical and optical) suitable for the common electrode in LCDs and obtained with sintered ceramic rotary targets in dynamic deposition processes similar to CF lines but focussing on higher throughput. The effect of variables such as rotary magnetron sputter power load, substrate temperature and reactive gas mix on the thin film properties will be presented.
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