Novel, Colloidally Rough, In2 O 3 Films Displaying High Quantum Efficiencies

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Abstract
The photoelectrochemical properties of films of indium oxide formed in essentially three different ways are reported. These are (i) reactive sputtering of the oxide from an indium metal target, (ii) thermal oxidation of thin indium metal films, also sputter deposited, and (iii) plasma oxidation of the same thickness of indium metal. While reactively sputtered films exhibit a maximum quantum efficiency ∼ 20% at 290 nm, similar to that achieved with single crystal , the thermally oxidized films give ∼ 90% quantum efficiency at 310 nm. The bandgap energies as determined from photoelectrochemical studies were 2.8 eV (indirect) and 3.6 eV (direct) for all three types of films. The solid‐state, optical, morphological, and photoelectrochemical properties of the three types of films are reported and compared. A major portion of the improvement of the thermally oxidized films over those reactively sputtered is morphological in nature, which suggests the possibility for substantial improvement of other photoelectrode materials utilizing the same effect.

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