Lowering the resistivity of aluminum doped zinc oxide thin films by controlling the self-bias during RF magnetron sputtering

Preferential zinc sputtering during the growth of aluminum doped zinc oxide thin films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

“…This type of variation has been presented and discussed very recently and can be summarized as following. [32][33][34] The discharge is in the plume-like mode at 0.27 Pa with a difference of almost two orders in magnitude between the sheet resistance values at r= 0 and r17 mm and a high re-sputtering rate for r<10 mm (see the reduced thin film thickness). By reducing the target to substrate distance or increasing the RF discharge power the intense re-sputtering observed for 0.27 Pa becomes directly visible as a complete thin film removal for r<5 mm.…”

“…[31] However, Ar is the preferred choice for TCO deposition. In two very recent publications, Stamate reported AZO resistivity variations larger than two orders of magnitude for a span on the substrate of less than 10 mm [32] and demonstrated the possibility to reduce the detrimental role of negative ions by reducing their energy with a tuning electrode (TE) [33] as schematically presented in Fig. 1 (b).…”

High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering of In2O3/Sn Cold Sprayed Composite Target

“…In other studies, the bias voltages were frequently applied to the substrate to control the electron bombardment momentum and thus, to improve the film properties [ 63 ]. Since the negative ion energy depend strongly on the self-bias, it is stated that negative oxygen ions are one of the factors significantly influencing thin film properties [ 64 ]. Therefore, further research should be directed on increasing HiPIMS power density or lowering the DC self-bias.…”

Impact of Radio Frequency Plasma Power on the Structure, Crystallinity, Dislocation Density, and the Energy Band Gap of ZnO Nanostructure

“…8,9 ZnO materials are mostly fabricated using conventional deposition methods, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), 10 electro-deposition, 11 chemical vapor deposition (CVD), 12 pulsed laser deposition, 13 sol−gel method, 14 spray pyrolysis, 15 hydrothermal method, 16 and magnetron sputtering. 17 Among these methods, magnetron sputtering is a flexible technique for the synthesis of ZnO materials. Extensive work has been done using RF-magnetron sputtering due to the high growth rate, low growth pressure, and low growth temperature.…”

“…ZnO is an n-type semiconductor material and has a direct band gap of 3.37 eV and exciton binding energy of 60 meV at room temperature . Furthermore, it is potentially useful in various applications including UV light-emitting devices, nanosensors, energy conversion and storage, and thin films and solar cells. , ZnO materials are mostly fabricated using conventional deposition methods, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), electrodeposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), pulsed laser deposition, sol–gel method, spray pyrolysis, hydrothermal method, and magnetron sputtering . Among these methods, magnetron sputtering is a flexible technique for the synthesis of ZnO materials.…”