Preliminary Exploration of the Electrical Insulation Defects in Sio2 Film on Fto Substrate

Abstract

SiO2 film prepared by the sputtering technology exhibits inhomogeneous defects connected with surface morphology of substrate, which results in the electrical insulation failure. The conducting atomic force microscope (C-AFM) system with a conductive diamond tip is used to reveal the inhomogeneous defects in 100 nm thick SiO2 film, which is prepared onto FTO layer. The ‘hole’ type and ‘puncture’ type of defects appear in SiO2 film on FTO layer. The ‘hole’ type defects dominate the electrical insulation failure of SiO2 film on FTO layer. The ‘hole’ type defects are mainly caused by the ‘depressed’ deep enough and ‘bulge’ high enough positions at FTO surface. The majority of shallow ‘depressed’ and low ‘bulge’ positions at FTO surface could be completely covered by 100 nm thick SiO2 film. Our results provide the preliminary exploration and underlying insights needed to guide the preparation of SiO2 film on FTO surface with satisfactory electrical insulation.

Keywords: Silicon dioxide, Sputtering, Thin film, Defects, Electrical insulation resistance