Abstract
We have investigated the influences of aluminum and gallium dopants (0 to 2.0 mol%) on zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films regarding crystallization and electrical and optical properties for application in transparent conducting oxide devices. Al- and Ga-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates (corning 1737) by sol–gel spin-coating process. As a starting material, AlCl3⋅6H2O, Ga(NO3)2, and Zn(CH3COO)2⋅2H2O were used. A lowest sheet resistance of 3.3 × 103 Ω/□ was obtained for the GZO thin film doped with 1.5 mol% of Ga after post-annealing at 650°C for 60 min in air. All the films showed more than 85% transparency in the visible region. We have studied the structural and microstructural properties as a function of Al and Ga concentrations through X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis. In addition, the optical bandgap and photoluminescence were estimated.
Highlights
Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films have been intensively investigated for optical and electrical applications, such as flat-panel displays, liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes, thin-film transistors, and thin-film solar cells [1,2,3,4]
Undoped and doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been prepared by a variety of thin film
Al-doped ZnO and Ga-doped ZnO thin films were prepared by sol–gel spin-coating method since this particular technique offers several advantages, such as large deposition area, simple equipment, low fabrication cost, and high homogeneity of the precursor
Summary
Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films have been intensively investigated for optical and electrical applications, such as flat-panel displays, liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes, thin-film transistors, and thin-film solar cells [1,2,3,4]. Indium tin oxide (ITO) has been widely employed as a TCO material because of its superb electrical and optical properties. Al-doped ZnO (hereafter AZO) and Ga-doped ZnO (hereafter GZO) thin films were prepared by sol–gel spin-coating method since this particular technique offers several advantages, such as large deposition area, simple equipment, low fabrication cost, and high homogeneity of the precursor. We compare the effects of Al and Ga dopants on the microstructure, electrical, and optical properties of the AZO and GZO thin films as a function of doping concentration. AZO and GZO films were deposited on glass substrates (Corning 1737) by sol–gel spin-coating method. After being deposited by sol–gel spin coating, the films were preheated at 300°C for 10 min on a hot plate to evaporate the solvent and remove organic residuals. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were recorded using a PL spectrometer excited with a 325-nm He-Cd laser at room temperature
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