Evaluation of the structural, optical and electrical properties of AZO thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition for optoelectronics

Kumar, K. Deva Arun; Valanarasu, S.; Rosario, S. Rex; Ganesh, V.; Shkir, Mohd.; Sreelatha, C.J.; AlFaify, S.

doi:10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2018.02.003

Cited by 36 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Many studies feature the Al-doped ZnO thin films (AZO) as an efficient alternative to ITO films due to their facile preparation and the low cost of the raw materials [30][31][32]. AZO films can be manufactured by different deposition methods such as sol-gel [30,[33][34][35], spray pyrolysis [27], chemical bath deposition [36], RF sputtering [37,38], atomic layer [39] and pulsed laser deposition [40]. The sol-gel synthesis displays a series of advantages such as cost effectiveness, ease of preparation, stoichiometry, homogeneity, viscosity and thickness control, lower working temperatures and the use of a higher concentration of dopant [41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Al Incorporation on the Structural and Optical Properties of Sol–Gel AZO Thin Films

et al. 2023

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ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were prepared using the sol–gel method and deposited on a Silicon (Si(100)) substrate using the dipping technique. The structure, morphology, thickness, optical constants in the spectral range 300–1700 nm, bandgap (Eg) and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the films were analyzed using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), Raman analysis and PL spectroscopy. The results of the structure and morphology analyses showed that the thin films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure, as well as continuous and homogeneous. The PL background and broader peaks observable in the Raman spectra of the AZO film and the slight increase in the optical band gap of the AZO thin film, compared to undoped ZnO, highlight the effect of defects introduced into the ZnO lattice and an increase in the charge carrier density in the AZO film. The PL emission spectra of the AZO thin film showed a strong UV line corresponding to near-band-edge ZnO emission along with weak green and red emission bands due to deep-level defects, attributed to the oxygen-occupied zinc vacancies (OZn lattice defects).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Al Incorporation on the Structural and Optical Properties of Sol–Gel AZO Thin Films

et al. 2023

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“…The other important technical challange is that most AZO thin films prepared from different routes suffer from poor transmission in the infrared (IR) region; hence they are not suitable for low-band-gap-based optoelectronics devices. , Various attempts have been made in the past to address this issues: annealing of AZO at 600 °C in H 2 atmosphere to improve crystallinity, rapid thermal annealing of the film in vacuum, chemical etching in acid reagents, and annealing of the sandwich structure (AZO/Ag/AZO) . However, all of these efforts require following supplementary equipment and complex procedures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Room Temperature Sputtered Aluminum-Doped ZnO Thin Film Transparent Electrode for Application in Solar Cells and for Low-Band-Gap Optoelectronic Devices

et al. 2022

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Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) is a popular, low-cost, nontoxic material that finds application as a transparent conducting electrode in photonic, sensing, and photovoltaic devices. We report the AZO thin films with a high figure of merit on large-area glass substrates by direct current magnetron sputtering without any intentional substrate heating. Furthermore, a simple thermal post-treatment to improve the transmittance of AZO thin film in the infrared region for its application in low-band-gap devices is presented. High optoelectronic properties are obtained by optimizing oxygen content during the sputtering process. The structural, morphological, optoelectrical, and photoluminescence characterization of cold sputtered AZO films is investigated for its latent applications. AZO thin films with an electrical sheet resistance of 8.8 Ω/□ and a visible light transmittance of 78.5% with thickness uniformity above 95% are achieved on 300 mm × 300 mm glass substrate. The AZO film with optimized process conditions is employed as a transparent electrode to fabricate a copper–indium–gallium–selenide-based thin film solar cell, demonstrating 11.8% power conversion efficiency. The AZO film with optimized sputter conditions was post-treated in ambient conditions with an Al blanket to suppress the resistivity by proper organization of the defects due to Al 3+ consumption and point defects, resulting in improved transparency (85%) in the infrared region with a sheet resistance of 40 Ω/□. This has great potential for developing scalable and low-cost AZO thin films for transparent electrodes in a wide range of the spectrum.

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“…Particularly, the group III elements, such as boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga) and indium (In), are the most considerable dopants utilized as extrinsic donors for promotion of the electrical and optoelectrical characteristics of n-type ZnO thin films [11,12]. It is well agreed that ZnO thin films doped with B, Al, Ga and In ions become more conductive, because one excess electron is produced in those thin films [13]. A number of studies on the physical properties of Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) thin films prepared by various techniques have been reported due to their non-toxicity, lowcost, simple fabrication, abundance of the raw materials and competitive optoelectronic properties with indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films [14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melioration of Electrical and Optical Properties of Al and B Co-Doped ZnO Transparent Semiconductor Thin Films

Tsay

2021

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Undoped, Al-doped and Al-B co-doped ZnO transparent semiconductor thin films were deposited on glass substrates by sol-gel method and spin coating technique. This study investigated the influence of Al (2 at.%) doping and Al (2 at.%)-B (1 or 2 at.%) co-doping on the microstructural, surface morphological, electrical and optical properties of the ZnO-based thin films. XRD analysis indicated that all as-prepared ZnO-based thin films were polycrystalline with a single-phase hexagonal wurtzite structure. The substitution of extrinsic dopants (Al or Al-B) into ZnO thin films can significantly degrade the crystallinity, refine the microstructures, improve surface flatness, enhance the optical transparency in the visible spectrum and lead to a shift in the absorption edge toward the short-wavelength direction. Experimental results showed that the Al-doped and Al-B co-doped ZnO thin films exhibited high average transmittance (>91.3%) and low average reflectance (<10%) in the visible region compared with the ZnO thin film. The optical parameters, including the optical bandgap, Urbach energy, extinction coefficient and refractive index, changed with the extrinsic doping level. Measured results of electrical properties revealed that the singly doped and co-doped samples exhibited higher electron concentrations and lower resistivities than those of the undoped sample and suggested that 2 at.% Al and 1 at.% B were the optimum dopant concentrations for achieving the best electrical properties in this study.

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Evaluation of the structural, optical and electrical properties of AZO thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition for optoelectronics

Cited by 36 publications

References 50 publications

Effect of Al Incorporation on the Structural and Optical Properties of Sol–Gel AZO Thin Films

Effect of Al Incorporation on the Structural and Optical Properties of Sol–Gel AZO Thin Films

Room Temperature Sputtered Aluminum-Doped ZnO Thin Film Transparent Electrode for Application in Solar Cells and for Low-Band-Gap Optoelectronic Devices

Melioration of Electrical and Optical Properties of Al and B Co-Doped ZnO Transparent Semiconductor Thin Films

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