Abstract: Tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by reactive thermal evaporation.The effect of the preferred orientation of ITO thin film on its performance has been studied.The results show that the grain orientation in the (400) direction does not influence the transmissivity and the carrier concentration,but enhances the carrier mobility.The transmissivity of ITO films is over 90% in the visible wavelength region (except for film deposited at 125℃).To deposit (222)- and (400)-oriented ITO films on the same thin film Si/single crystalline Si solar cells separately,the photoelectric conversion efficiency is 10.31% and 12.92%,respectively.This result indicates that the (400) preferred orientation of ITO film can improve the efficiency of solar cells.The optimal substrate temperature and oxygen flow are 225℃ and 4sccm,respectively.Under this condition,the resistivity of ITO film is 4.8e-4Ω·cm,and the figure of merit reaches 3.8e-2 □/Ω.

Key words: ITO film, reactive thermal evaporation, preferred orientation, figure of merit