Correlation between Electrical Properties and Crystalc-Axis Orientation of Zinc Oxide Transparent Conducting Films

Abstract

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) was deposited on an undoped ZnO buffer layer at various deposition temperatures by RF-magnetron sputtering. We controlled the crystal c-axis orientation of AZO using the undoped ZnO buffer layer. With increasing deposition temperature of the undoped ZnO buffer layer, the alignment of the c-axis orientation of the AZO layer improved, and the sheet resistance of the AZO layer decreased. Comparing the electrical properties of the AZO layer with the c-axis orientation, the above correlation was confirmed. It is important to improve the alignment of the c-axis orientation for the improvement of the electrical properties of the AZO layer.