Influence of the sputtering pressure on the properties of TAZO films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering

Transparent conducting Ti-Al co-doped zinc oxide films (TGZO) with high transparency and relatively low resistivity have been successfully prepared on water-cooled glass substrate by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature. All the deposited films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal structure and have a preferred orientation along the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The Ar sputtering pressure was varied from 1.5 to 13 Pa. The electrical resistivity decreases when the sputtering pressure increases from 1.5 to 7.5 Pa. The electrical resistivity increases when the sputtering pressure increases from 7.5 to 13 Pa. When the sputtering pressure is 7.5 Pa, it is obtained that the lowest resistivity is 2.18x10(-4)Omega.cm. In the visible region, all the deposited films show a high average transmittance of above 92 %.