Effect of O₂ Flow Rate on Properties of Mn-SnO₂/Ag/Mn-SnO₂ Multilayer Film.

Abstract

Multilayer films with Mn-SnO₂ (MTO)/Ag/Mn-SnO₂ (MTO) hybrid structure were prepared on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate using a DC/RF sputtering system at room temperature. The optical, electrical, and structural properties of the thus-synthesized multilayer films were systematically investigated as a function of the O₂/(Ar+O₂) flow rate. The transmittance of the MTO/Ag/MTO multilayer films at 550 nm increased gradually from 83.1% to 87.9% and the sheet resistance (Rs) of the multilayer films increased from 6.3 to 9.8 Ω/sq upon increasing the O₂/(Ar+O₂) flow rate. The highest figure of merit (φTC) of MTO/Ag/MTO multilayer film was 45.7×10-3 Ω-1 at an O₂/(Ar+O₂) flow rate of 2.8%. X-ray photoelectron spectra of multilayer films obtained with different O₂/(Ar+O₂) flow rates showed no noticeable variation.