A linear model application for the design of transparent conductive In₂O₃ coatings

Highly transparent conductive indium oxide (In₂O₃) thin films were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering using a pure indium oxide target in an argon atmosphere. A linear programming method for the production design of these thin films using a sputtering process was proposed. Sputtering model calculations were founded on the 'random partial sections in a multi-factor's space' theory. The obtained model was further optimized by the 'precipitous rise' method in order to obtain optimal processing parameters. The chosen active factors of the sputtering process (independent of each other) were: argon pressure; substrate temperature; target voltage; and deposition duration. As a result of the optimization process, the obtained transparent conductive indium oxide thin films had the following parameters: transparency in 550 nm - 90.7% (including the glass substrate having an absolute transparency of 91.08%); resistivity of up to 0.043 Ω cm for a 2500 Å film thickness.