Effect of Si substrate orientation on morphology and electrical properties of ZnO∶Al films

Abstract

Al doped ZnO films (AZO) have been deposited on (100), (110) and (111) Si substrates by RF magnetron sputtering to investigate the influence of Si substrate orientation on the morphology and electrical properties. It has been found that all these films have columnar structures. The grain size of the AZO films deposited on (100), (110) and (111) Si substrates increases monotonically, thereby resulting in a decrease in the resistivity. The interfacial-geometry analysis shows a decrease in the degree of interface misfit on (100), (110), and (111) Si substrates. Therefore, there is an obvious correspondence between the grain size of the films and the interfacial-misfit degree, which indicates that the interface misfit is a key factor dominating the grain size, and, hence, the film resistivity.