Nano-oxidation of indium tin oxide using a conductive atomic force microscope

• Main Authors: Chieh-Kai Chang, 張傑凱
• Other Authors: Jih-Shang Hwang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/52488534750960536477

碩士 === 國立臺灣海洋大學 === 光電科學研究所 === 100 === In this thesis, we successfully employed nano-oxidation to oxidize the indium tin oxide (ITO) surface using an atomic force microscope (AFM). During the oxidation, a water bridge would be formed automatically between the AFM tip and the ITO substrate. A bias voltage was applied between the conductive probe of the AFM and the ITO substrate for inducing oxidation reaction on the substrate, leading to changes in surface morphology and conductivity of the ITO film. Our experimental results show that a threshold sample bias voltage of 4V was required for the oxidation reaction to be started. We also found that shining of 266nm UV laser light on the ITO surfaces, generating more photo-carriers, did help enhance the oxidation reaction. Further analysis of spreading resistance shows that electric conductance of the ITO surface after oxidation was increase. In addition, we also found the nano-oxidation can be enhanced either by lowering the scanning speed or increasing the humidity. We believe that the proposed technique will find its applications in a variety of fields, and hopefully open up new directions in ITO-based research.