Optical, structural, and electrical properties of indium oxide thin films prepared by the sol-gel method

This article reports the fabrication of thin films of In2O3 from an aqueous sol and an organic solution. The stability of the aqueous sol with respect to the concentration of indium and pH are discussed. Thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analysis were performed on the dried sol particles as well as the gel for better understanding of thermal events occurring during the sintering process. Microstructure, phase purity, optical, and electrical properties of the thin films deposited on glass substrates by dip-coating process from aqueous sol and organic solution were studied by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffractometry, visible light spectrometry, and the four-probe method, respectively. The electrical properties of the films derived from the two systems are discussed based on the differences in their morphologies.