Elemental distribution and oxygen deficiency of magnetron sputtered ITO   films
  The atomic structure and composition of non-interfacial ITO and ITO-Si interfaces were studied with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on mono-crystalline p-type (100) Si wafers. Both as deposited and heat treated films consisted of crystalline ITO. The ITO/Si interface showed a more complicated composition. A thin layer of SiO$_x$ was found at the ITO/Si interface together with In and Sn nanoclusters, as well as highly oxygen deficient regions, as observed by XPS. High energy electron exposure of this area crystallized the In nanoclusters and at the same time increased the SiO$_x$ interface layer thickness. 
Annett Th{\o}gersen, Margrethe Rein, Edouard Monakhov, Jeyanthinath   Mayandi, Spyros Diplas
cond-mat.mtrl-sci cond-mat.mes-hall