TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE FILM, ITS PRODUCTION METHOD AND SPUTTERING TARGET USED FOR ITS PRODUCTION
Providing a tin oxide target suitable for the formation of a transparent conductive film by DC sputtering method, DC pulse sputtering method or AC sputtering method. A sputtering target which is used for forming a transparent conductive film by a sputtering method, comprising tin oxide as the main component, and at least one element selected from the A dopant group consisting of zinc, niobium, titanium, magnesium, aluminum and zirconium and at least one element selected from the B dopant group consisting of tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum, as dopants.
1 . A sputtering target which is used for forming a transparent conductive film by a sputtering method, comprising tin oxide as the main component, and at least one element selected from the A dopant group consisting of zinc, niobium, titanium, magnesium, aluminum and zirconium and at least one element selected from the B dopant group consisting of tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum, as dopants.
2 . The sputtering target according to claim 1 , wherein the following formulae (1) to (3) are satisfied:
0.8<( Sn )/( Sn+M A +M B )<1.0 (1)
0.001<( M A )/( Sn+M A +M B )<0.1 (2)
0.001<( M B )/( Sn+M A +M B )<0.15 (3)
where M A is the total amount of elements of the A dopant group, M B is the total amount of elements of the B dopant group, and Sn is the amount of tin element contained in the sputtering target.
3 . The sputtering target according to claim 1 , wherein the relative density is at least 60%, and the sheet resistance on its surface is at most 9E+6Ω/□.
4 . A transparent conductive film, comprising tin oxide as the main component, and at least one element selected from the A dopant group consisting of zinc, niobium, titanium, magnesium, aluminum and zirconium and at least one element selected from the B dopant group consisting of tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum, as dopants and containing substantially no antimony or indium.
5 . The transparent conductive film according to claim 4 , wherein the following formulae (4) to (6) are satisfied:
0.8<( Sn )/( Sn+M A +M B )<1.0 (4)
001<( M A )/( Sn+M A +M B )<0.1 (5)
0.001<( M B )/( Sn+M A +M B )<0.15 (6)
where M A is the total amount of elements of the A dopant group, M B is the total amount of elements of the B dopant group, and Sn is the amount of tin element contained in the sputtering target.
6 . The transparent conductive film according to claim 4 , wherein the specific resistance is at most 5E−2 Ωcm.
7 . The transparent conductive film according to claim 4 , wherein the thickness of the transparent conductive film is at most 1 μm.
8 . A display member, which has the transparent conductive film as defined in claim 4 .
9 . A method for producing a transparent conductive film, which comprises forming a transparent conductive film by a sputtering method using the sputtering target as defined in claim 1 .