Influence of a Ni buffer layer on the optical and electrical properties of GZO/Ni bi-layered films

Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) and GZO/Ni bi-layered films were prepared on polycarbonate (PC) substrates by DC and RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature in order to determine the influence of a Ni buffer layer on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the GZO/Ni films. The thickness of the Ni buffer layer was varied between 2 and 5 nm. As-deposited GZO films that contained the PC substrate show an average optical transmittance of 81.3% in the visible wavelength region and an electrical resistivity of 3.1 x 10 (3) Omega cm, while GZO/Ni bi-layered films show different optical and electrical properties that are dependent on the thickness of the Ni buffer layer. Although the GZO 100 nm/Ni 5 nm films possessed the lowest electrical resistivity (7.3 x 10 (4) Omega cm) and the largest grain size (16 nm) in this study, GZO 100 nm/Ni 2 nm films showed best optoelectrical performance among the films. This superiority was due to the simultaneous optimization of the optical and electrical properties. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.