Effects of H2 Flow Rate and H2 Plasma Treatment on the Properties of AZO Films

In this study, a 1350 degrees C-sintered 98 mol% ZnO-1 mol% Al2O3 (AZO, Zn:Al= 98:2) ceramic was used as a target and deposited on glass using a r.f magnetron sputtering system at a deposition temperature of 200 degrees C. The effects of different H-2 flow rates (H-2/(H-2+Ar)=0%similar to 9.09%, abbreviated as H-2-deposited AZO films) added during the deposition process on the crystallization, resistivity, and optical transmission spectrum of AZO films were investigated. The Burstein-Moss shift effects were measured and used to prove that the defects of AZO films decreased with increasing H-2 flow rate. For comparison, the 2% H-2-deposited AZO films were also treated by the H2 plasma at room temperature for 60 min (plasma-treated AZO films) The effects of H-2 plasma on the properties of the H-2-deposited AZO films were also studied. The value variations in the optical band gap (E-g) of the H-2-deposited and plasma-treated AZO films were evaluated from the plots of (alpha hv)(2) = c(hv-E-g).