Pulsed laser deposited indium tin oxides as alternatives to noble metals in the near-infrared region.

Transparent conductive indium tin oxide thin films with thickness around 200 nm were deposited on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition technology. The microstructure and the electrical and optical properties of the ITO films deposited under different oxygen pressures and substrate temperatures were systematically investigated. Distinct different x-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the crystallinity of ITO films was highly influenced by deposition conditions. The highest carrier concentration of the ITO films was obtained as 1.34  ×  10(21) cm(-3) with the lowest corresponding resistivity of 2.41  ×  10(-4) Ω cm. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was applied to retrieve the dielectric permittivity of the ITO films to estimate their potential as plasmonic materials in the near-infrared region. The crossover wavelength (the wavelength where the real part of the permittivity changes from positive to negative) of the ITO films exhibited high dependence on the deposition conditions and was optimized to as low as 1270 nm. Compared with noble metals (silver or gold etc), the lower imaginary part of the permittivity (<3) of ITO films suggests the potential application of ITO in the near-infrared range.