Abstract In practical applications of indium-tin-oxide (ITO), annealing at temperatures ~400 °C without degrading its electrical and optical properties is an important challenge. In the present work, commercial Indium-tin oxide (ITO) coated on glass was subjected to post-annealing treatment in the range of 200–400 °C at different annealing atmospheres; oxygen, nitrogen and carbon-dioxide. The annealed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy and Hall measurements to evaluate the structural, optical and electrical properties. Both oxygen and nitrogen treated samples demonstrate degradation in structural, optical and conducting properties of ITO, while carbon-dioxide atmosphere inhibits the degradation of ITO at 400 °C. The obtained results suggest that carbon-dioxide can be well utilized as annealing ambient to retain opto-electronic and structural properties of ITO and thereby improve the efficiency of ITO based solar cells.

中文翻译：

---

二氧化碳作为退火气氛以保持氧化铟锡的电性能

摘要 在氧化铟锡 (ITO) 的实际应用中，在~400 °C 的温度下退火而不降低其电学和光学性能是一项重要挑战。在目前的工作中，涂覆在玻璃上的商业氧化铟锡（ITO）在不同退火气氛下在 200-400°C 范围内进行后退火处理；氧气、氮气和二氧化碳。退火样品通过 X 射线衍射、紫外-可见光谱和霍尔测量进行表征，以评估结构、光学和电学性能。氧气和氮气处理的样品都证明了 ITO 的结构、光学和导电性能的退化，而二氧化碳气氛抑制了 ITO 在 400°C 的降解。