In order to study the characteristics of multilayer thin films with a ZnO/ metal/ ZnO structure the manufacture of the thin films was performed by a dc (direct current) magnetron sputtering system on slide glass substrates. The ZnO thin films were manufactured with the thicknesses of 30 nm and 50 nm. Three kinds of metals (Ag, Al and Cu) were deposited with the thicknesses of 4 nm, 8 nm, 12 nm and 16 nm. The electrical and optical properties of the manufactured thin films were then observed. As a result, the multilayer thin films with an Ag layer represented the most excellent electrical conductivity. This is due to the difference in the fundamental electrical properties of each of the metals. The structures of the metal particles deposited on the ZnO thin films were observed by an SEM (scanning electron microscope). The thin films exhibited a continuous structure with regular spaces between the metal particles. This resulted in an increase of transmittance. This is considered by the decrease of scattering and of light absorption on thin films with a continuous structure.
Transparent conductive layers on flexible substrates are important components of today’s optoelectronic technology. They are used in filters for plasma displays, low-e windows, solar cells, etc. At present, in-doped indium oxide (ITO) layers on PET substrate is the predominant transparent conducting oxide film in diverse practical applications. However, ITO is a relatively expensive material because indium is not abundant, but aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) film is emerging as an alternative potential candidate to ITO thin film due to its abundance as a raw material, nontoxic nature, cost-effectiveness, easy fabrication, and good stability in plasma. They have, however, several drawbacks: they exhibit relatively high electrical resistance (sheet resistance, 20-200Ω), considerable emissivity, and significant absorption in the spectral region 1-2μm, in which transition from high transmittance to high reflectance takes place. Furthermore, these films do not block solar thermal radiation (0.7-3μm), which may cause overheating problems to devices such as electro-chromic and photovoltaic devices. On the other hand, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films are used to achieve high transparent conducting properties. A thin silver layer of about 10nm thickness is embedded between two ITO layers. The ITO/Ag/ITO film has very low sheet resistance, high optical transparency in the visible range, relatively lower thickness than single-layered ITO film, and better durability than single-layered silver film. In terms of ZnO, which is a wide direct band-gap semiconductor, ZnO has a band-gap energy of 3.37 eV with a binding energy as high as 60 meV at room temperature. ZnO has been applied to various domains for excellent physical and chemical properties, such as piezoelectric sensors, rheostats , gas sensors, semiconductor lasers, and transparent conductive films.
TCO (transparent conducting oxide) films are widely used as photoelectric devices in flat panel displays and solar cells. Until now, ITO (indium-tin oxide) films have been used as TCO films. However, with the increase in the cost of ITO films , researchers have been searching for new materials to use as TCO films .Transparent and conductive aluminum-doped zinc oxide films were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures. The electric and optical properties of these films were studied by Hall measurement and optical spectroscopy, respectively. All of the films that were deposited at temperatures higher than 200 °C substrate temperature demonstrated over 80% transmittance in the range of the visible spectrum. Since the surface mobility of a particle is limited at a low temperature, the growth rate of AZO thin films would be higher than that at a high temperature. And the films showed minimum resistivity of 6.77 × 10-3Ω•cm at substrate temperature of 200 °C.
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