Al-doped ZnO films deposited by magnetron sputtering: effect of sputtering parameters on the electrical and optical properties

Abstract

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were prepared by magnetron sputtering method. The influences of deposition pressure, substrate temperature, Ar flow rate and film thickness on optical and electrical properties were investigated using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer and Hall measurements. The experimental results revealed that a low resistivity, smaller than 4 × 10 −4 Ω·cm, was obtained when the deposition pressure was smaller than 0.67 Pa and substrate temperature about 200°C. Ar flow rate had a small influence on the resistivity but a big influence on the transparency at near infrared range (NIR). We obtained optimized AZO thin films with high conductivity and transparency at low deposition pressure, small Ar flow and appropriate temperature (around 200°C). The etching behavior of the AZO thin films deposited at the different Ar flow rates was also studied in this paper. The results show that Ar flow rate is a very important factor affecting the etching behavior.

Solution processed glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide/aluminum-doped zinc oxide double layer thin films for transparent heater and near-infrared reflecting applications

“…5c), which indicates a blue shift of the plasma resonance wavelength (λ p ) for the FTO/AZO THs compared to single FTO layer. This shift probably occurred due to increase in the charge carrier density for the thicker double layer sample compared to 550 nm thick single layer FTO substrate [71]. Beyond this wavelength, the (R) value of the transparent heater increased gradually and reached to 55% at a wavelength of 2500 nm, whereas the FTO substrate was only reached 44% reflectance at the same wavelength.…”

Selected properties of AlxZnyO thin films prepared by reactive pulsed magnetron sputtering using a two-element Zn/Al target

“…For the deposition of AZO thin films by magnetron sputtering, the most commonly used targets are made of sintered zinc oxide powders and aluminum oxide (ZnO/Al 2 O 3 ). The optimal percentage of aluminum oxide in such targets is approximately 2% [ 6 – 18 ]. However, in research in which the objective was to obtain films with minimum resistivity, the alumina content was typically varied in the range of 1–6% [ 8 – 9 12 ].…”