The influence of substrate temperature on the properties of aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Transparent, conducting, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were deposited on Corning 1737 glass by a DC magnetron sputter. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films, deposited using various substrate temperatures, were investigated. The AZO thin films were fabricated with an AZO ceramic target (Al2 O3:2 wt%). The obtained films were polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially oriented in the (002) crystallographic direction. The lowest resistivity was 6.0 × 10-4Ω cm, with a carrier concentration of 2.7 × 1020 cm-3 and a Hall mobility of 20.4 cm2/Vs. The average transmittance in the visible range was above 90%. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006.