The formation of superficial nanostructures (SNs) in reduced indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films by H2-Glow discharge (GD) at a low reduction temperature (Tr=100 °C) was investigated. Sputtered ITO films deposited at low (Td=100 °C) and high (Td=300 °C) temperatures were reduced using this low-temperature process. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopy were applied to study the evolution of the nanostructural features and three stages were identified: emerging/densification, coalescence, and depletion stages. The structural characteristics of the SNs were characterized by grazing incidence and conventional θ/2θ X-ray diffractions showing that at Tr=100 °C, the reduction process was limited to the surface region in which the ion bombardment had influence. The mean diameter of the SNs in ITO deposited on the glass substrate was controlled from ~10-90 nm and the SNs densities, d, were obtained from ~109-1011SNs/cm2. Finally, the superficial nanostructures were successfully formed in ITO films deposited on flexible polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates. It was demonstrated that, on these substrates, is possible to obtain a uniform distribution in the size and density of the SNs, with =9.5-20.7 nm and d=2.66×1011-4.20×1010SNs/cm2.

中文翻译：

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在低温 (100 °C) 下通过 H ₂ -GD还原的 ITO 薄膜中表面纳米结构的逐步形成，用于塑料基板上的应用。

研究了在低还原温度 (Tr = 100 °C) 下通过 H2-辉光放电 (GD) 在还原的氧化铟锡 (ITO) 薄膜中形成表面纳米结构 (SN)。使用这种低温工艺可以减少在低温 (Td=100 °C) 和高温 (Td=300 °C) 下沉积的溅射 ITO 薄膜。应用扫描电子和原子力显微镜来研究纳米结构特征的演变，并确定了三个阶段：出现/致密化、聚结和耗尽阶段。SNs 的结构特征通过掠入射和常规 θ/2θ X 射线衍射表征，表明在 Tr=100°C 时，还原过程仅限于离子轰击影响的表面区域。沉积在玻璃基板上的 ITO 中 SNs 的平均直径控制在 ~10-90 nm，SNs 密度 d 从 ~109-1011SNs/cm2 获得。最后，在柔性聚萘二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PEN) 基板上沉积的 ITO 薄膜中成功形成了表面纳米结构。结果表明，在这些基板上，可以获得均匀分布的 SNs 的尺寸和密度，=9.5-20.7 nm 和 d=2.66×1011-4.20×1010SNs/cm2。