Atomic force (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopies (StM) were used to investigate the nanotopography of commercial dc sputtered ITO thin films and Pt thin films on ITO, both with float glass as a substrate. ITO films from a metallic target display 3 dissimilar nanoscale features, whereas the ITO film from an oxide target shows a more homogeneous surface topography. The influence of the desputtering yielded an enhanced rms roughness of 4.2nm compared to 2.9nm of the original Pt film surface and a more rugged topography. Atomic resolution could be reached on the Pt surface. It was shown that the AFM results can be used to prove those of the STM and vice versa. However, due to differing tip geometries and the UHV system, the STM achieves a better resolution of the surfaces investigated.
