Characteristics of ITO films deposited on a PET substrate under various deposition conditions

ITO films, with a thickness of 150 nm to 160 nm, were deposited on an unheated hard coated PET substrate or non-alkali glass substrate via dc magnetron sputtering. Depositions were carried out under the following various conditions: total gas pressure (P_tot), dc sputtering power, target — substrate (T-S) distance, and O₂ or H₂ addition ratio. The ITO coated on the PET substrate showed relatively lower resistivity than that of the ITO coated on a glass substrate. Relatively small changes in the resistance (ΔR/R₀=0.4) of the films were obtained for each deposition condition for the ITO/PET deposited under a sputtering power of 70 W, P_tot of 0.5 Pa, and T-S of 50 mm. It has been confirmed that the results of the electrical property showed concurrence with the results of the bending test. Specifically, the films that have a good electrical property showed only a small change in resistance to the increasing cycle number for each deposition condition. Therefore, it can be assumed that the increased resistance of the ITO films could be due to the formation of micro defects such as micro-cracks and the micro detachment of the ITO film from the flexible PET substrate.