Two-step sintering of aluminum-doped zinc oxide sputtering target by using a submicrometer zinc oxide powder

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) is a potential substitute for tin-doped indium oxide due to its versatility. The properties of AZO films are related to those of the AZO sputtering target. To improve the performances of AZO targets, two-step sintering was used to densify a submicrometer zinc oxide (ZnO) powder with a size of 0.4 μm to produce both AZO and ZnO targets.     

不同衬底上ZnO:Al透明导电薄膜的性能

室温下,采用射频磁控溅射法在玻璃和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（polyethylene terephthalate,PET）上沉积了掺铝的氧化锌（ZnO：Al,AZO）透明导电薄膜。通过X射线衍射仪分析不同衬底上AZO薄膜的结构,采用四探针测试仪及紫外可见光分光光度计测试薄膜的光电性能。结果表明：沉积在两种衬底上的AZO薄膜都具有六方纤锌矿结构,最佳取向均为[002]方向;玻璃衬底和PET衬底上制备的AZO薄膜的方阻分别为19/sq和45/sq,薄膜透光率均高于90%。实验表明,柔性衬底透明导电氧化物薄膜可以代替硬质衬底透明导电薄膜使电子器件向小型化、轻便化方向发展。     

Influence of ZnO buffer layer on AZO film properties by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Transparent conductive films of Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) were deposited on glass substrates under various ZnO buffer layer deposition conditions (radio frequency (r.f.) power, sputtering pressure, thickness, and annealing) using r.f. magnetron sputtering at room temperature. This work investigates the influence of ZnO buffer layer on structural, electrical, and optical properties of AZO films. The use of grey-based Taguchi method to determine the ZnO buffer layer deposition processing parameters by considering multiple performance characteristics has been reported. Findings show that the ZnO buffer layer improves the optoelectronic performances of AZO films. The AZO films deposited on the 150-nm thick ZnO buffer layer exhibit a very smooth surface with excellent optical properties. Highly c-axis-orientated AZO/ZnO/glass films were grown. Under the optimized ZnO buffer layer deposition conditions, the AZO films show lowest electrical resistivity of 6.75 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, about 85% optical transmittance in the visible region, and the best surface roughness of R_a = 0.933 nm.     

Effects of NIR annealing on the characteristics of al-doped ZnO thin films prepared by RF sputtering

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by employing radio frequency (RF) sputtering method for transparent conducting oxide applications. For the RF sputtering process, a ZnO:Al₂O₃ (2 wt.%) target was employed. In this paper, the effects of near infrared ray (NIR) annealing technique on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the AZO thin films have been researched. Experimental results showed that NIR annealing affected the microstructure, electrical resistance, and optical transmittance of the AZO thin films. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that all films have a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with the preferentially c-axis oriented normal to the substrate surface. Optical transmittance spectra of the AZO thin films exhibited transmittance higher than about 80% within the visible wavelength region, and the optical direct bandgap (E_g) of the AZO films was increased with increasing the NIR energy efficiency.     

Property approach of Si based ZnO films under thermal shock

ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films were deposited on p-Si(100) wafers using magnetron sputtering, the effect of thermal shock on Si based films and its interface were evaluated by various characterization methods such as in-situ nanoscratch, atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS). The results show the adhesion strength of Si/ZnO interface is relatively stable under thermal shock, the surface grains of Si coated ZnO form dense clusters then refine them. XRD and FTIR show Si based films exhibit (002) orientation with good structural stability related to Zn–O bond, the interfacial reactions of Si based films could experience strong interaction through Si, Zn and O atoms located at Si/ZnO interface during thermal shock. Moreover, some comparatively prominent peaks are observed by UV-DRS, which caused by Si interacted with ZnO, the AZO films deposited on quartz glass substrates illustrate the optical properties are obviously influenced and degraded after thermal shock.     

Sputtered AZO Thin Films for TCO and Back Reflector Applications in Improving the Efficiency of Thin Film a-Si:H Solar Cells

We report the properties of Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films on glass substrates and its effect on the efficiency of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells as the back reflector. Oriented AZO thin films were grown using DC magnetron sputtering by varying Ar gas flow rates. The influence of Ar flow rate on the structural, electrical and optical properties of AZO thin films suitable for transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and back reflector applications was investigated. The (a-Si:H) solar cells, with and without AZO back reflector, were fabricated on FTO coated glass substrates using the PECVD technique. The solar cells were tested using a Sun simulator under AM 1.5 condition. Enhancement in current density from 12.46 to 14.24 mA/cm² with the AZO back reflector was observed, thereby increasing the efficiency of the solar cell from 6.38 to 7.82 %, respectively.     

Low-temperature growth of highly conductive and transparent aluminum-doped ZnO film by ultrasonic-mist deposition

Aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films are grown by ultrasonic-mist deposition method for the transparent conducting oxides (TCO) applications at low temperatures. The AZO films can be grown at a temperature as low as 200 °C with zinc acetylacetonate and aluminum acetylacetonate sources. The lowest resistivity of grown AZO films is 1.0×10⁻³ Ω·cm and the lowest sheet resistance of 1 μm thick films is 10 Ω/□, which is close to that of commercial indium tin oxide (ITO) or Asahi U-type SnO₂: F glass. The highest carrier concentration and mobility are 5.6×10²⁰ cm⁻³ and 15 cm²/V·sec, respectively. Optical transmittance of the AZO films is found over 75% for all growth conditions. We believe that the properties of grown AZO films in this study are the best among all reported previously elsewhere by solution processes.     

Room temperature preparation of high performance AZO films by MF sputtering

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited by MF magnetron sputtering from a ceramic oxide target without heating the substrates. This study has investigated effects of sputtering power on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the AZO films. The films delivered a hexagonal wurtzite structure with (002) preferential orientation and uniform surface morphology with 27–33 nm grain size. The results indicate that residual stress and grain size of the AZO films are dependent on sputtering power. The minimum resistivity of 7.56×10^?4 Ω cm combined with high transmittance of 83% were obtained at deposited power of 1600 W. The films delivered the advantages of a high deposition rate at low substrate temperature and should be suitable for the fabrication of low-cost transparent conductive oxide layer.     

Preparation and characterization of Al-doped ZnO piezoelectric thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Undoped and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films (Al: 3, 5 at%) using a series of high quality ceramic targets have been deposited at 450 ºC onto glass substrates using PLD method. The used source was a KrF excimer laser (248 nm, 25 ns, 2 J/cm²). The study of the obtained thin films has been accomplished using X-ray diffraction (XRD), M-lines spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). XRD patterns have shown that the films crystallize in a hexagonal wurtzite type structure with a highly c-axis preferred (002) orientation, and the grain sizes decrease from 37 to 25 nm with increasing Al doping. The optical waveguiding properties of the films were characterized by means of the prism-coupling method. The distinct M-lines of the guided transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) modes of the ZnO films waveguide have been observed. The M-lines device has allowed determination of the accurate values of refractive index and thickness of the studied ZnO and AZO thin films. An evaluation of experimental uncertainty and calculation of the precision of the refractive index and thickness were developed on ZnO films. The RBS results agree with XRD and m-lines spectroscopy measurements.     

Orientation Control in Sol–Gel-Derived BiScO3–PbTiO3 Thin Films

BiScO₃–PbTiO₃ (BSPT) thin films were fabricated via a sol–gel method on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(111) substrates. The effects of different factors on the orientation of the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films were investigated. The results showed that a higher lead excess concentration, longer drying time, higher pyrolysis temperature, longer pyrolysis time, higher crystallization temperature, and longer crystallization time could enhance the (100) orientation of the BSPT thin films. Based on the experimental results, a mechanism for the orientation evolution in the sol–gel-derived BSPT thin films was proposed. The production of the (100) orientation was attributed to the (100)-oriented PbO nanocrystals forming during the pyrolysis process due to the lattice match.     

Effect of annealing and room temperature sputtering power on optoelectronic properties of pure and Al-doped ZnO thin films

Transparent ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films have been prepared by radio frequency sputtering deposition at room temperature. The optical, electrical, and structural characteristics of the obtained films have been extensively investigated as a function of sputtering and annealing parameters. Spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), four-point probe and Hall-effect measurements were employed. The ZnO films generally exhibited excellent crystalline properties, while providing a UV cut-off in the absorption spectrum for optical filtration. AZO thin films exhibited an average transparency (larger than 85%) over the visible region of the spectrum, and resistivity of the order of 10^?3 Ω cm was obtained. The carrier concentration and electron mobility values proved to be dependent on the deposition parameters and annealing temperature. The obtained results showed that annealing temperatures higher than 400 °C were not necessary and potentially degraded the electronic properties of the AZO thin films.     

Enhanced electrical and optical properties based on stress reduced graded structure of Al-doped ZnO thin films

Graded structures of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) multilayered thin film were prepared on quartz glass substrate by sol-gel process, and then sequentially annealed by raped thermal annealing(RTA) and UV laser annealing technologies for transparent conducting oxide (TCO) applications. Different Al mol% (0, 0.17, 0.33,0.5, 0.66, 0.83, 1) doped ZnO graded structures of multilayer thin films were prepared to optimize the lattice parameter to reduce stress, and then the annealing processes were sequentially performed. Introducing graded multilayered thin films, reduced the stress between the layers. The AZO graded structures of multilayer thin films were annealed by RTA followed by a 350 nm nanosecond pulsed UV laser annealing method. The graded structures of multilayered AZO thin films were investigated and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), four-point probe, and UV–vis spectrophotometer, respectively. These results show that multilayered graded thin films were well grown with decreased stress, and well crystallized along the c-axis. The optical transmittance of the films is around 94.8% at 400–800 nm wavelength, and the energy band-gap is around 3.27 eV, respectively. The sheet resistance value of 13.2 kΩ/sq shows a 30% improvement.     

Effect of Al doped ZnO on optical and photovoltaic properties of the p-Cu2O/n-AZO solar cells

Metal oxide thin films have fared so well in the semiconductor industry because of their superior physical, electrical, and optical properties. The applications of these materials in solar cells, biosensors, biomedicine, supercapacitors, photocatalysis, luminous materials, and laser systems are becoming increasingly popular. In this study, the influence of Al concentration on Cu₂O/AZO heterojunction thin films was examined systematically. First, arrays of n-ZnO and AZO rods were produced on an ITO substrate using a hydrothermal technique at 140 °C. Then, using an alkaline cupric lactate solution, a thin films of p-Cu₂O were electrodeposited at 60 °C onto the ZnO arrays. The structure and morphology of the produced materials and the solar cells were studied using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The optical measurements demonstrate a shift in the absorption edge with increasing Al content. Solar cells have been created with a device structure of ITO/ZnO/Cu₂O/Al and ITO/Al-doped ZnO/Cu₂O/Al configurations. The power conversion efficiency (?) of the inorganic solar cell with 6% Al-doped ZnO is ? = 0.282%, which is greater than the ? of the ZnO-based solar cell (? = 0.17%).     

Optoelectronic performances on different structures of Al‐doped ZnO

ZnO films and Al‐doped ZnO (AZO) films were deposited on p‐Si substrate by magnetron sputtering to investigate its chemical composition, structural and photoelectric properties. XRD and FTIR show that Al ions can enter into the substitutional and interstitial site of ZnO crystal, and O atoms in AZO films are more abundant. Three different structures of Al‐doped ZnO (substitutional Al, interstitial Al, and O‐rich Al‐doped ZnO) were built using first‐principles method based on experimental results, charge density difference, and density of States (DOS) illustrate that there are strong ionic interactions between Al and O atoms in substitutional Al‐doped ZnO, moreover, substitutional and interstitial Al doping both are beneficial to N type, but oxygen‐enriched ZnO is not conducive to N type. Furthermore, the optical properties of 3 different Al‐doped ZnO structures were investigated respectively. Compared with pure ZnO, the real and imaginary part of dielectric function of O‐rich and interstitial Al have a significant increase and move to lower energy (red shift), the reflectivity of O‐rich is 3 times of pure ZnO and substitutional Al‐doped ZnO. The results are hoped to be helpful to study AZO thin film and predict the properties of Al‐doped ZnO.     

Effects of Individual Layer Thickness on the Microstructure and Optoelectronic Properties of Sol–Gel-Derived Zinc Oxide Thin Films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared under different conditions on glass substrates using a sol–gel process. The microstructure of ZnO films was investigated by means of diffraction analysis, and plan-view and cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the preparation conditions strongly affected the structure and the optoelectronic properties of the films. A structural evolution in morphology from spherical to columnar growth was observed. The crystallinity of the films was improved and columnar film growth became more dominant as the zinc concentration and the substrate withdrawal speed decreased. The individual layer thickness for layer-by-layer homoepitaxy growth that resulted in columnar grains was <20 nm. The grain columns are grown through the entire film with a nearly unchanged lateral dimension through the full film thickness. The columnar ZnO grains are c -axis oriented perpendicular to the interface and possess a polycrystalline structure. Optical transmittance up to 90% in the visible range and electrical resistivity as low as 6.8 × 10⁻³·Ω·cm were obtained under optimal deposition conditions.     

Joining aluminum sheets with conductive ceramic films by ultrasonic nanowelding

Directly joining metal electrodes with ceramic films is desired for many applications in electronic manufacture. In this work, ultrasonic nanowelding was used successfully to join aluminum (Al) sheet onto indium tin oxide (ITO) and aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) ceramic thin films. The results show that the contact resistance of the nanowelded bonds is as low as that of the conventional silver paste joints, and the contact strength is enhanced dramatically after nanowelding. Compared with Al–ITO joint, the contact stength between Al and AZO is a little higher because of the different roughness at the joint interface. From the rupture interface of the joint zone after stress–strain measurement, domains of Al atoms have been observed, which suggests that a reliable bonding is formed between Al and the ceramic films.     

Microstructure,Surface Morphology and Photoluminescence Properties of Al-Doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Plasma Focus Method

Al-doped ZnO (AZO), as one of the most promising transparent conducting oxide (TCO) materials, has now been widely utilized in thin film solar cells. In this research the optimization process of AZO thin films deposited by plasma focus device was carried out by investigation of its physical properties under different deposition conditions for its utilize as a front contact for the Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) based thin film solar cell applications. The effects of number of focus shots and angular position of substrate on the microstructure, surface morphology and photoluminescence properties of the thin films have been systematically studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirmed the polycrystalline nature of the all deposited AZO thin films. XRD analysis also revealed that crystal structure characteristics of obtained samples strongly depend on deposition conditions (number of shots and angular position). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses revealed the structure growth and enhancement of surface roughness, with increasing of focus shots or decreasing of angular position. From Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra, the variations of structural defects and band gap energy for all the AZO thin films prepared under different deposition conditions were also discussed.     

Effects of substrate temperature on thermal stability of Al-doped ZnO thin films capped by AlOx

Effects of substrate temperature on the thermal stability of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films have been studied. Degradation of electrical properties of AZO films by annealing under flowing N₂ gas depends on their crystallinity controlled by the substrate temperature. A thin AlO_x capping layer was employed to passivate the thermal degradation of the AZO layer. A strong correlation between Zn desorption and reduction in carrier concentration was observed. Thermal desorption of Zn was prevented by the AlO_x layer, retaining carrier concentration. With the AlO_x capping layer, the reduction in Hall mobility was prevented in samples with good c-axis orientation, while the reduction in Hall mobility was still observed in poor c-axis oriented films. However, the reduction was smaller than that in bare AZO films. The dependence of Hall mobility evolution on the substrate temperature, and therefore, on crystallinity, strongly suggests the impact of grain boundary scattering on thermal degradation. An increase in optical mobility, which was evaluated from optical spectra using the Drude model, with annealing temperatures, supports the conclusion that an increase in grain boundary scattering by annealing caused the degradation of Hall mobility. The increase in grain boundary scattering induced by Zn desorption was prevented by the capping layer, while contributions of domain alignment and other segregation of defects to the grain boundary scattering, which depend on the substrate temperature retained, leading to different evolutions of Hall mobility.     

Enhanced power factor of textured Al‐doped‐ZnO ceramics by field‐assisted deforming

Field‐assisted deforming method has been used to prepare c‐axis textured Al‐doped‐ZnO Ceramics (AZO) ceramics. In such cases, AZO ceramics with different degree of texture can be controlled efficiently. As a consequence, the electrical conductivity has been significantly enhanced for AZO ceramic with high degree of texture. The electrical conductivity for highly textured AZO is as high as 29.5 S·m^?1, 6 times higher than random orientation AZO ceramics. The enhanced electrical conductivity leads to a higher power factor of 5.3×10^?4 W·m^?1·K^?2 at 750 K, a 60.6% improvement over the random orientation AZO ceramic.     

Characterization of Pure and Al Doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Sol Gel Method for Solar Cell Applications

Pure and Al-doped Zin Oxide ZnO (AZO) thin films with different aluminum (Al) concentrations (0.5, 1, 2, and 3 at.%) were prepared on glass substrates by a dip-coating technique using different Zn and Al precursors. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of these films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), Atomic force electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and four-point probe technique. XRD results showed that the obtained AZO thin films were polycrystalline with a highly c-axis preferred (002) orientation, and the average crystallites size decreased from 29 to 25 nm with the increase in Al doping concentration. EDS microanalysis confirmed the presence of Zn, O and Al elements in the prepared films as expected. The optical study demonstrated that the ZnO thin film had a good transparency in the visible range with a maximum transmittance of 90% and the band gaps varied from 3.16 to 3.26 eV by Al doping. SEM micrographs showed a wrinkles-like morphology of the thin films that changed in density with the increase of Al concentrations. The PL emission spectra indicated that except the thin film doped with 1 at.%, other films exhibited high emission intensities under an excitation of 325 nm which allows to apply them as downconversion layers for solar cell applications.