Transparent Conductive Thin Films of Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Transparent conductive thin films of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZAO) were prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering with ZAO (98 wt% ZnO, 2 wt% Al2O3) as the ceramic target. The visible transmittance was investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, the carrier concentration and Hall mobility were measured by the Van der Pauw method, and the phase composition was characterized by X-ray diffraction. The results show that the substrate temperature was a dominant factor of the properties, with the ZnO film deposited at a substrate temperature of 200 °C and a pure-argon gas pressure of 1 Pa exhibiting optimal performance. The resistivity and average transmittance in the wavelength range of 300-760 nm were 2.0 × 10 −4 Ω cm and 90.6%, respectively.