Thermal stability of hydrogen-doped AZO thin films for photovoltaic applications

Lee, Sooho; Park, Yongseob; Kim, Donguk; Baek, Donkyu; Yi, Junsin; Hong, Byungyou; Choi, Won Seok; Lee, Jaehyeong

doi:10.1016/j.materresbull.2014.04.050

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The results of the tolerance tests on AZO nanofilms grown on SiO 2 /Si substrates and GZO nanofilms strongly support the universality of the sequential effect of annealing atmospheres. We also confirmed that the ρ AZO of AZO nanofilms annealed by sequence II shows better atmospheric thermal stability than that of previous studies with various methods ,,, (Figure S5). Figure c shows the applicability of the present atmospherically and thermally stable AZO electrodes for nanochannel chemical sensor devices.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…16−19 A unique finding of these studies is that AZO films grown at lower temperatures are more conductive at the sacrifice of film crystallinity. 18,20 This has been attributed to the thermodynamic stability of aluminum oxides, which hinders Al being as dopants in the AZO crystal structure at relatively high temperatures. 21−23 Thus, as-grown conductive AZO nanofilms contain a substantial amount of various crystal imperfections, which should be closely related to long-term atmospheric stability of the electrical properties of AZO.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Al-doped ZnO (AZO) has been intensively studied due to its high electrical conductivity and abundance of resources. Numerous reports have been published on AZO film fabrications that modulate the deposition parameters during crystal growth, such as oxygen partial pressure, temperature, Al concentration, film thickness, and others. − A unique finding of these studies is that AZO films grown at lower temperatures are more conductive at the sacrifice of film crystallinity. , This has been attributed to the thermodynamic stability of aluminum oxides, which hinders Al being as dopants in the AZO crystal structure at relatively high temperatures. − Thus, as-grown conductive AZO nanofilms contain a substantial amount of various crystal imperfections, which should be closely related to long-term atmospheric stability of the electrical properties of AZO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unusual Sequential Annealing Effect in Achieving High Thermal Stability of Conductive Al-Doped ZnO Nanofilms

Yan

Takahashi

Kanai

et al. 2020

ACS Appl. Electron. Mater.

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Emerging interactive sensor electronics requires metal oxide electrodes that possess long-term atmospheric stability and electrical conductivity to function under harsh conditions (e.g., high temperatures) in air. In this study, we report a rational method to accomplish the long-term thermal stability of conductive Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanofilms, which have been thermally unstable due to inevitable crystal defects. Our method utilizes a sequential thermal annealing in air and Zn vapor atmosphere. An initial annealing was performed in air, followed by a second annealing in a Zn vapor atmosphere. Air tolerance tests on the resulting AZO nanofilms revealed the stable electrical resistivity (∼10 −4 Ω•cm) in air, even at temperatures up to 500 °C. Conversely, when annealing was performed in the reverse sequence, the electrical resistivity of the AZO nanofilms significantly increased by 5 orders of magnitude during tolerance tests. Photoluminescence data further supported the results of the air tolerance tests. The unusual effect of the annealing−atmosphere sequence is discussed in terms of the presence of dual anion/cation vacancies and the sequential benefits when these vacancies are compensated during annealing. The applicability of these thermally stable AZO electrodes for use in nanochannel sensor devices is demonstrated. Furthermore, we show that the proposed sequential annealing method is applicable for Ga-doped ZnO films, supporting its use as a platform fabrication method. Thus, the proposed fundamental concept for tailoring thermally stable conductive metal oxide electrodes provides a foundation for designing interactive electronic devices that are stable for a long period. KEYWORDS: conductive (Al, Ga)-doped ZnO nanofilms, crystal defects, long-term thermally stable electrode, sequential effect of annealing−atmospheres

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Unusual Sequential Annealing Effect in Achieving High Thermal Stability of Conductive Al-Doped ZnO Nanofilms

Yan

Takahashi

Kanai

et al. 2020

ACS Appl. Electron. Mater.

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“…In the current scenario, synthesizing different kinds of hybrid metal oxide nanomaterials attracts young researcher because of its novel application in almost all the fields [2,3]. Among transition metal oxide, ZnO nanomaterialsfinds uses in a number of fields, such as ceramics, piezoelectric transducers, chemical sensors, anti-UV additives, photocatalysts, photoelectric fields etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrochemical heavy metal detection, photocatalytic, photoluminescence, biodiesel production and antibacterial activities of Ag–ZnO nanomaterial

Nagaraju

Udayabhanu

Shivaraj

et al. 2017

Materials Research Bulletin

351

104

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“…In this work, AZO and hydrogenated AZO (AZO:H) films deposited at room temperature by RF sputtering, underwent seven different postdeposition annealing treatments, selected to analyze the thermally induced physical transformations that allow the improvement of their optoelectronic properties. The treatments were performed at low temperature (≤300 °C) to avoid the degradation of the hydrogenated TCO materials and to enable their application in postprocessing in thermally sensitive devices (e.g., solar cells) or substrates (e.g., PEN, PET, cellulose). Specifically, we explored the effects of annealing under: atmospheric pressure and vacuum (1 × 10 −5 Pa), in the range of 100–300 °C up to 16 h; H 2 , Ar, and forming gas atmosphere, for a wide range of gas pressure (66–266 Pa), flow (10–50 sccm), temperature (100–300 °C), and annealing time (0.5–2 h); and H 2 and Ar plasmas for different RF power (10–30 W) and annealing time (0.25–1 h).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Electrical Properties of ZnO‐Based Transparent Conductive Oxides Grown at Room Temperature and Improved by Controlled Postdeposition Annealing

Lyubchyk

Vicente

Soule

et al. 2015

Adv Elect Materials

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Indium tin oxide (ITO) is the current standard state‐of‐the‐art transparent conductive oxide (TCO), given its remarkable optical and electrical properties. However, the scarcity of indium carries an important drawback for the long‐term application due to its intensive use in many optoelectronic devices such as displays, solar cells, and interactive systems. Zinc oxide‐based TCOs can be a cost‐effective and viable alternative, but the limitations imposed by their transmittance versus resistivity tradeoff still keep them behind ITO. In this work, an in‐depth study of the structural and compositional material changes induced by specific postannealing treatments is presented, based on aluminum zinc oxide (AZO) and hydrogenated AZO (AZO:H) thin films grown by rf‐magnetron sputtering at room temperature that allows an extensive understanding of the films' electrical/structural changes and the ability to tune their physical parameters to yield increasingly better performances, which put them in line with the best ITO quality standards. The present investigation comprises results of thermal annealing at atmospheric pressure, vacuum, forming gas, H2 and Ar atmospheres and plasmas. Overall the study being performed leads to a decrease in resistivity above 40%, reaching ρ ≈ 3 × 10−4 Ω cm, with an average optical transmittance in the visible region around 88%. Such results are equivalent to the properties of state‐of‐the‐art ITO.

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Thermal stability of hydrogen-doped AZO thin films for photovoltaic applications

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

Unusual Sequential Annealing Effect in Achieving High Thermal Stability of Conductive Al-Doped ZnO Nanofilms

Unusual Sequential Annealing Effect in Achieving High Thermal Stability of Conductive Al-Doped ZnO Nanofilms

Electrochemical heavy metal detection, photocatalytic, photoluminescence, biodiesel production and antibacterial activities of Ag–ZnO nanomaterial

Mapping the Electrical Properties of ZnO‐Based Transparent Conductive Oxides Grown at Room Temperature and Improved by Controlled Postdeposition Annealing

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