Transparent conducting zinc oxide thin film prepared by off-axis rf magnetron sputtering (original) (raw)
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Journal of Electroceramics, 2009
Transparent conducting aluminium-doped Zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films have been deposited on glass substrates by magnetron dc sputtering using a ceramic target (ZnO with 2 wt% Al2O3). The dependence of the electrical and optical properties of these films on substrate temperature, sputtering pressure of Ar and location of substrates were investigated in detail. Target is perpendicular with substrate and we controlled the distance ‘x’ of target and substrate. Optimized films with resistivity of 3.7 × 10−4 Ω cm, an average transmission in the visible range (300–800 nm) of greater than 85% and the reflectance in the infrared range being greater than 85% have been formed. Substrate temperature, distance ‘x’, and working pressure are optimized for lower resistivity and high concentration of carriers.
Keywords: Al–F co-doped ZnO Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) Thin film magnetron sputtering Substrate temperature a b s t r a c t ZnO is a wide bandgap semiconductor that has many potential applications such as solar cells, thin film transistors, light emitting diodes, and gas/biological sensors. In this study, a composite ceramic ZnO target containing 1 wt% Al 2 O 3 and 1.5 wt% ZnF 2 was prepared and used to deposit transparent conducting Al and F co-doped zinc oxide (AFZO) thin films on glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The effect of substrate temperatures ranging from room temperature (RT) to 200 • C on structural, morphological , electrical, chemical, and optical properties of the deposited thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Hall effect measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and UV–vis spectrophotometer. The XRD results showed that all the AFZO thin films had a (0 0 2) diffrac-tion peak, indicating a typical wurtzite structure with a preferential orientation of the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The FE-SEM and AFM analyses indicated that the crystallinity and grain size of the films were enhanced while the surface roughness decreased as the substrate temperature increased. Results of Hall effect measurement showed that Al and F co-doping decreased the resistivity more effectively than single-doping (either Al or F doping) in ZnO thin films. The resistivity of the AFZO thin films decreased from 5.48 × 10 −4 to 2.88 × 10 −4-cm as the substrate temperature increased from RT to 200 • C due to the increased carrier concentration and Hall mobility. The optical transmittances of all the AFZO thin films were over 92% in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm regardless of substrate temperature. The blue-shift of absorption edge accompanied the rise of the optical band gap, which conformed to the Burstein-Moss effect. The developed AFZO thin films are suitable as transparent conducting electrodes for various optoelectronic applications.