AZO transparent electrodes grown in situ during the deposition of zinc acetate dihydrate onto aluminum thin film by spray pyrolysis

Abstract

Zinc acetate dihydrate solution was deposited onto glass and a thin layer of aluminum (10 nm), by spray pyrolysis at 450 °C, growing zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. The ZnO formation occurs differently on aluminum due to the diffusion process forming AZO at the Al/ZnO interface. The films deposited onto the aluminum showed transmittance above 95%, associated with sheet resistance less than 40 Ω/sq. The high transmittance value with low sheet resistance is crucial for a good transparent electrode. Raman spectroscopy showed a higher degree of doping for films with thin layers of ZnO, and that the diffusion process is high at the Al/ZnO interface. The performance of the transparent electrode was evaluated through the characterization of the Schottky diode (Al:ZnO/ZnO/Au). The factor of ideality (n), resistance in series (Rs), and height of the barrier ( $$ \phi_{B} ) $$ presented values of 3.79, 1022.6 Ω, and 0.97 eV, respectively. These results demonstrate the simple production of a transparent electrode by the in situ diffusion process using the spray pyrolysis technique.