Growth of ZnO:Al thin films onto different substrates

Abstract

In this paper we present some results regarding undoped and doped ZnO thin films deposited on various substrates like glass, silicon and kapton by rf magnetron sputtering. The influence of the amount of aluminum as well as the usage of different substrates on the final photovoltaic properties of the thin films is studied. For this, structuralmorphological and optical investigations on the thin films are conducted. It was found that three important factors must be taken into account for adjusting the final desired application intended for the deposited thin films. These factors are: deposition conditions, the nature of both the dopant material and the substrate. A comparison study between undoped and doped case is also realized. Smooth Al doped ZnO thin films with a polycrystalline structure and a lower roughness than undoped ZnO are obtained

Effect of annealing treatment on the structural and optical properties of AZO samples

“…Thus, ZnO exhibits a wide bandgap for a semiconductor [8] and becomes more conductive [9] after doping with aluminum. However, the optimal value of Al doping may vary between 1 and 3%, as found in various studies [1,10,11].…”

“…Extensive studies have shown that properties of the AZO thin films are highly dependent on the preparation technology, such as: RF magnetron sputtering [10], thermal oxidation [11,12], chemical vapor deposition [12], pulsed laser deposition [2,13,14], spray pyrolysis [15] and thermal deposition [16]. From these techniques, RF magnetron sputtering [10,17] is considered optimal in terms of high deposition rate, good control and the possibility of scaling to large areas (deposition on large substrates, e.g. 10 cm × 10 cm), high quality of deposition and without emission of toxic gases.…”