Tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films were deposited on Si(100) and glass substrates at different deposition time by direct current pulse magnetron sputtering. The step profiler, four-point probe measurements and atomic force microscopy were used to study the thickness, sheet resistance, as well as the nucleation and growth behavior of ITO films, respectively. The dynamic scaling of roughness evolution could be divided into three stages, which are the growth of islands, the coalescence of islands, and the homogeneous growth, respectively. Compared with the glass substrate, it needs long time to nucleate on Si(100) substrate for fewer defects on the surface. Base on the result above, the mechanisms of defect nucleation and islands coalescence could be given. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.