Effect of annealing temperature on properties of ZnO:Al thin films prepared by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering

Transparent conductive aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al, AZO) films have been prepared on glass substrate by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The sputtering process was accurately controlled by a closed-loop speedflo controller with a lambda-sensor. Subsequently, the obtained AZO films were annealed at different temperature. The effect of annealing temperature on the optical, electrical, and structural properties was investigated. Structural, electrical and optical properties were performed by XRD, SEM, AFM, four-point probe and UV-vis-NlR spectrum measurements. Experimental results show that the electrical resistivity of AZO thin films deposited at room temperature can be as low as 5.24 x 10(-4) Omega cm with post-deposition annealing at 300 degrees C. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.