ZnO 50 nm/Ag 10 nm/SnO 2 50 nm (ZAS) tri-layer films were deposited on a glass substrate by RF and DC magnetron sputtering and then underwent rapid thermal annealing in a low vacuum of 1×10-3 Torr to investigate the effects of post-deposition annealing on the optical and electrical properties of the films. The peak intensity of the XRD pattern related to the ZnO (002) peak of the annealed films was higher than that of the as-deposited film and the full width at half-maximum of the ZnO (002) diffraction peak of the annealed films was smaller than that of the as-deposited film. Therefore, the crystallinity of ZnO was improved by rapid annealing. However, crystallization of the Ag interlayer and SnO 2 surface layer were not significantly affected by the annealing temperature, compared with the ZnO bottom layer. From the observed electrical properties and optical band gap, it was concluded that the blue shift in the optical band gap is related to the carrier density of the films. The band gap increased from 4.19 eV to 4.24 eV, with the carrier density increasing from 7.09 × 10 21 cm −3 to 7.77 × 10 21 cm −3. However, the film annealed at 450 o C showed a decreased band gap energy of 4.17 eV due to the decreased carrier density of 6.80 × 10 21 cm −3. The as-deposited ZAS films showed a sheet resistance of 11.0 Ω/□ and a visible transmittance of 80.8%, whereas the films annealed at 450 o C had a higher visible transmittance of 82.3% and a lower sheet resistance of 6.55 Ω/□. The results indicate that ZAS thin films may be possible substitutes for conventional Sn-doped In 2 O 3 transparent electrodes in various optoelectronic devices.

Transparent and conductive Ti doped In₂O₃ (TIO) films were prepared on slide glass substrate using a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputter and then subjected to Transparent and conductive Ti doped In₂O₃ (TIO) films were prepared on a glass slide substrate using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputter. The film surface was then subjected to intense electron beam irradiation, to study the influence of incident energy on the visible transmittance and electrical resistivity of the films. All x-ray diffraction plots exhibited some diffraction peaks of the cubic bixbyite In₂O₃ (222), (400), (332), (431), (440), and (444) planes regardless of the electron irradiation energy, while the characteristic diffraction peak for crystalline TiO₂ did not appear even when irradiated at 1500 eV. In atomic force microscope analysis, the surface roughness of the as deposited TIO films was found to be 0.63 nm. As the electron irradiation energy was increased up to 1500 eV, the root mean square roughness decreased down to 0.36 nm. The films electron irradiated at 1500 eV showed higher visible transmittance of 83.2% and the lower resistivity of 6.4 × 10^-4 Ωcm compared to the other films. From the electrical properties and optical band gap observation, it is supposed that the band gap shift is related to the carrier density. The band gap enlarged from 4.013 to 4.108 eV, along with an increase in carrier density from 9.82 × 10¹⁹ to 3.22 × 10²⁰ cm^-3.

No abstract

No abstract

Transparent conductive ZnO 50 nm/Ag 10 nm/SnO₂ 50 nm (ZAS) tri-layer films were deposited on glass substrates by magnetron sputtering, and then the surface was subjected to intense electron beam irradiation to investigate the effects of electron irradiation on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films. After deposition, the ZAS thin films were electron-irradiated for 10 minutes, with varying electron incident energies of 300, 600, and 900 eV. The films that were electron irradiated at 900 eV showed higher optical transmittance of 83.6% in the visible wavelength region, and lower resistivity, of 4.75 × 10^-5 Ωcm, than the other films. From the observed electrical properties and optical band gap, it was concluded that the optical band gap increased with the incident electron energy up to 600 eV. The optical band gap increased from 4.12 to 4.23 eV, with carrier density increasing from 7.09 to 8.55 × 10²¹ cm⁻³. However, the film electron irradiated at 900 eV showed a decrease in optical band gap energy of 4.16 eV due to the decreased carrier density of 8.25 × 10²¹ cm⁻³. The figure of merit revealed that the ZAS thin films electron-irradiated at 900 eV had higher optical and electrical performance than the other films prepared in this study.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract