Studies on the properties of sputter-deposited Ag-doped ZnO films

Ag-doped ZnO films were prepared by simultaneous rf magnetron sputtering of ZnO and dc magnetron sputtering of Ag on glass substrate. The influences of dopant content and substrate temperature on the properties of the as-grown films were investigated. Several analytical tools such as X-ray diffraction, spectrophotometer, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and four-point probe were used to explore the possible changes in electrical and optical properties. The as-grown film has a preferred orientation in the (0 0 2) direction. As the amounts of the Ag dopant were increased, the crystallinity as well as the transmittance and optical band gap were decreased while the electrical resistivity increased. However, as the substrate temperature was increased, the crystallinity and the transmittance were increased. A small amount of Ag (<1 at%) lowered the resistivity by 30% with only a slight decrease in the visible transparency.