Enhancement of the Opto-Electrical Properties of Ag Intermediate ZTO Films by Vacuum Annealing

Abstract

Sn-doped ZnO (ZTO)/Ag/ZTO tri-layer films were deposited on glass substrates by radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and then vacuum annealed at 100, 200 and 300 ℃ for 30 min with a proportions of H2/N2 gas flow of 6/6 sccm, to investigate the effects of annealing temperature on their electrical, and optical properties. After annealing at a temperature of 300 ℃, the optical transmittance in the visible wavelength region increased from 82.0 to 83.8% and their electrical resistivity decreased to as low as 5.38×10-5 Ω cm at an annealing temperature of 300 ℃. The figure of merit revealed that ZTO/Ag/ZTO films annealed at 300 ℃ have higher optical and electrical performance than the other TCO films prepared under different conditions. † (