Adhesive and Wear Properties of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Thin Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputter

The adhesive and wear properties of ITO thin film have been investigated using the scratch and wear tests. ITO thin film was fabricated on glass substrate using R-F magnetron sputter and strip lines were formed by selective etching. In the scratch test, the normal load on WC micro-blade was increased and kept constant as it was drawn over the films. In the wear test, sapphire, SUS and WC balls slided repeatedly on the films with the constant normal load. During the scratch and wear, the ESR and the acoustic signal were monitored and recorded. In order to study the adhesive and wear properties of ITO thin films, it was desirable to use the ESR rather than the acoustic signal. From the change in the ESR, it was possible to measure the critical load to cut through ITO film completely and the critical number of sliding to wear ITO film completely.