Carrier mobility of highly transparent conductive Al-doped ZnO polycrystalline films deposited by radio-frequency, direct-current, and radio-frequency-superimposed direct-current magnetron sputtering: Grain boundary effect and scattering in the grain bulk

Abstract

The effects of using radio-frequency (RF)-superimposed direct-current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposition on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO)-based highly transparent conducting oxide films have been examined. AZO films were deposited on heated non-alkaline glass substrates (200 °C) using ZnO:Al2O3 (2 wt. % Al2O3) ceramic oxide targets with the total power varied from 150 to 300 W, and at various RF to DC power ratios, AZO films deposited by a mixed approach with the RF to the total power ratio of 0.14 showed the lowest resistivity of 2.47 × 10−4 Ω cm with the highest carrier concentration of 6.88 × 1020 cm−3 and the highest Hall mobility (μH) of 36.8 cm2/Vs together with the maximum value of an average transmittance in the visible spectral range from 400 to 700 nm. From the analysis of optical data based on the simple Drude model combined with the Tauc-Lorentz model and the results of Hall effect measurements, the optical mobility (μopt) was determined. A comparison of μopt with μH clarified the effects of the mixed approach not only on the reduction of the grain boundary contribution to the carrier transport but also on retaining high carrier mobility of in-grains for the AZO films.