Effects of deposition pressure on the properties of transparent conductive ZnO:Ga films prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering

Gallium (Ga)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Ga) transparent conductive films were deposited on glass substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. Effects of deposition pressure on the structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO:Ga films were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that the films are highly oriented with their crystallographic c-axis perpendicular to the substrate almost independent of the deposition pressure. The morphology of the film is sensitive to the deposition pressure. The transmittance of the ZnO:Ga thin films is over 90% in the visible range and the lowest resistivity of ZnO:Ga films is 4.48×10^?4 Ω cm.