Study of Annealing Influence on Basic Properties of Indium Tin Oxide Nanorod Films Deposited Using Glancing Angle Ion-Assisted Electron Beam Evaporation.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nanorod films were deposited onto glass slides and Si wafers using ionassisted electron beam evaporation with a glancing angle deposition technique. The annealing influence on the basic properties of the as-deposited ITO nanorod films was studied in the range of 100-500 degrees C for two hours in air. The crystallinity of the ITO nanorod films was enhanced with the increasing annealing temperature, and the average transmission of the as-deposited ITO nanorod films in the visible range was 90%. This value did not change significantly after the annealing process. The optical bandgap of the as-deposited ITO nanorod films was 3.94 eV and increased slightly after annealing. The sheet resistance of the as-deposited ITO nanorod films was 12.9 Omega/square and increased to 57.8 Omega/square at an annealing temperature of 500 degrees C. The as-deposited ITO nanorod films showed nanorod structures with average diameters of 79 nm, which changed slightly with the annealing temperature. The root mean square roughness of the as-deposited ITO nanorod films was 7.9 nm and changed slightly with annealing. The as-deposited ITO nanorod films had an average contact angle of 110.9 degrees, which decreased to 64.2 degrees at an annealing temperature of 500 degrees C. The experimental results showed that varying the annealing temperature influenced the structural, electrical and wettability properties of the ITO nanorod films while the optical properties and surface morphology were almost unaffected.