Crystallization of amorphous In2O3–10 wt % ZnO thin films annealed in air

We report on the crystallization of amorphous indium zinc oxide (a-IZO) with stoichiometry of In2Zn0.38O3.38 (In2O3–10 wt % ZnO) thin films deposited by dc magnetron sputtering. Transmission electron microscopy and glancing incidence x-ray diffraction were used to show that, when annealed in air at 500 °C, the product of a-IZO thin film crystallization is a compositionally modulated crystal of high-pressure corundum In2O3 phase. The composition, microstructure, resistivity, carrier density, and mobility of this new IZO phase are reported and are compared to the bixbyite ITO (In2O3–9.8wt%SnO2) deposited and annealed under identical conditions.