Highly Conductive and Transparent Aluminum Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Highly conductive films of Al-doped ZnO have been prepared by rf magnetron sputtering of a ZnO target with Al 2 O 3 dopant of 1–2 wt% in content added. Films with resistivity as low as 2×10 -4 Ωcm and transmittance above 80% at the wavelength between 400 and 800 nm can be produced on low temperature substrate with a relatively high deposition rate. It is shown that a stable resistivity for use in various ambients at high temperature can be attained for the films. The characteristic features of Al-doped ZnO films are their high carrier concentration and low mobility in comparison with non-doped ZnO films.