Selective laser direct patterning of indium tin oxide on transparent oxide semiconductor thin films

Abstract

For a wider application of laser direct patterning, selective laser ablation of indium tin oxide (ITO) film on transparent oxide semiconductor (TOS) thin film was carried out using a diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm. In case of the laser ablation of ITO on indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) film, both of ITO and IGZO films were fully etched for all the conditions of the laser beams even though IGZO monolayer was not ablated at the same laser beam condition. On the contrary, in case of the laser ablation of ITO on zinc oxide (ZnO) film, it was possible to etch ITO selectively with a slight damage on ZnO layer. The selective laser ablation is expected to be due to the different coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between ITO and ZnO.