ITO SPUTTERING TARGET AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME, ITO TRANSPARENT ELECTROCONDUCTIVE FILM, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ITO TRANSPARENT ELECTROCONDUCTIVE FILM

摘要

The present invention relates to a sputtering target characterized by being a sintered compact comprising In, Sn, O, and unavoidable impurities, the sintered compact containing Sn in an atomic ratio Sn/(In + Sn) of 1.8% to 3.7% (excluding 3.7%), the average crystal grain size of the sintered compact being in the range of 1.0-5.0 µm, vacancies having a major-axis diameter of 0.1-1.0 µm constituting an area ratio of 0.5% or less, the sintered compact having two phases including an indium oxide phase and a tin-oxide-rich phase, the area ratio of the tin-oxide-rich phase being 0.1-1.0%, and 95% or more of the tin-oxide-rich phase being present at grain boundary triple points. The present invention makes it possible to provide an ITO sputtering target suitable for forming a transparent electroconductive film and which has a low tin oxide content and enables a low-resistance film to be obtained even at low temperature, the sputtering target having a small grain size, high density, and high strength, and making it possible to reduce the occurrence of arcing or nodules.