Effect of nitrogen doping on the structural, optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide films prepared by magnetron sputtering for gallium nitride light emitting diodes

The indium tin oxide (ITO) films are prepared by the direct current magnetron sputtering technology with an ITO target in a mixture of argon and nitrogen gas at room temperature. The blue transmittance at 455 nm rises from 63% to 83% after nitrogen doping. The resistivity of the ITO film reduces from 4.6 × 10^-3 (undoped film) to 5.7 × 10^-4 Ω cm (N-doped film). The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data imply that the binding energy of the In3d_5/2 peak is declined 0.05 eV after nitrogen doping. The high resolution transmission electron microscope images show that the nitrogen loss density of the GaN/ITO interface with N-doped ITO film is smaller than that of the GaN/ITO interface with undoped ITO film. The forward turn-on voltage of gallium nitride light emitting diode reduces by 0.5 V after nitrogen doping. The fabrication of the N-doped ITO film is conducive to modify the N component of the interface between GaN and ITO layer.