Spreadability of Ag Layer on Oxides and High Performance of AZO/Ag/AZO Sandwiched Transparent Conductive Film

Abstract

Single layers of indium tin oxide (ITO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), and Ag, bilayers of ITO/Ag and AZO/Ag, and sandwiched layers of ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) and AZO/Ag/AZO (ZAZ) were fabricated on ordinary glass substrates using magnetron sputtering. The surface morphologies of single layers and bilayers were measured. The sheet resistance and transmittance of the sandwiched layers were investigated. The results showed that the spreadability of the Ag on the AZO was significantly better than that on the ITO or bare glass substrate. The spreadability of Ag on underlayers influences obviously the performance of transparent conductive oxide/Ag/transparent conductive oxides (TCO/Ag/TCO or TAT). The sheet resistance and transmittance of the ZAZ sandwiched layer with the matching of 35 nm AZO (35 nm)/Ag (9 nm)/AZO (35 nm) fabricated in this paper were low to 3.84 Ω/sq and up to 85.55% at 550 nm, respectively. Its maximum Haacke figure of merit was 0.05469 Ω −1 , higher than that of IAI multilayer.

Optoelectronic Properties of ZrO2/Cu/ZrO2 Multilayers Prepared by DC Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering for Electrode and Nano-Filter Applications

“…The reduction in transmittance in the NIR region is recognized to the scattering by free electrons and metallic surface. 28,29 It is documented that the optical transmittance is intensely associated with the charge carrier concentrations. Therefore, the decrease in the optical transmittance is endorsed to the increase in carrier concentrations as the Cu interlayer thickness increased.…”

Ag/M‐seed/AZO/glass structures for low‐E glass: Effects of metal seeds

“…Similar results were reported for bilayer Ag(8 nm)/AZO (3 wt% Al doped ZnO) on soda lime glass substrate in Ref. On the other hand, the Ag/Ti/AZO/glass and Ag/Nb/AZO/glass structures had also a lower electrical sheet resistance, as seen in Table . These results showed that the grown film with M‐Seed is a continuous film without island formation.…”

“…In case low emissivity coatings on glass, generally, thin silver layer was sandwiched between two dielectric layers such as dielectric/Ag/dielectric such as AZO/Ag/AZO . Conductivity of Ag film correlated with optical properties has main role on emissivity of the film stacks.…”

“…8 In case low emissivity coatings on glass, generally, thin silver layer was sandwiched between two dielectric layers such as dielectric/Ag/dielectric such as AZO/Ag/AZO. 9,10 Conductivity of Ag film correlated with optical properties has main role on emissivity of the film stacks. The conductivity is affected by surface roughness due to rough surfaces can cause scattering of electrons from the surface as well as discontinuity growing on dielectric/glass structure.…”

Comparison of the Optical Properties of Different Dielectric Materials (SnO2, ZnO, AZO, or SiAlNx) Used in Silver-Based Low-Emissivity Coatings

“…There are a lot of studies in the literature about the properties of multiple tri-layer structures (dielectric/metal/dielectric) with different dielectric materials: SnO 2 [32,33], ZnO [34][35][36][37][38], AZO (aluminum-doped zinc oxide) [39][40][41][42][43][44], ITO (tin-doped indium oxide) [45,46] (AZO and ITO are semiconductor materials but they fulfil an optical dielectric function in this type of structure), ZnS [47,48], TiN [49,50], TiO 2 [51], TiAlN (Al-doped titanium nitride) [52], AlN [53], and SiN [19,54]. Furthermore, comparative studies have also been conducted among some of them [55][56][57][58][59]. Each of these materials has its advantages and disadvantages for industrial use.…”