Electrical and Optical Properties of Molybdenum Doped Zinc Oxide Films Prepared by Reactive RF Magnetron Sputtering

Molybdenum doped zinc oxide (MZO) films were deposited on to glass substrates held at temperatures in the range from 303 to 673 K by reactive RF magnetron sputtering method. The chemical composition, crystallographic structure and surface morphology, electrical and optical properties of the films were determined. The films contained the molybdenum of 2.7 at. % in ZnO. The films deposited at 303 K were of X-ray amorphous. The films formed at 473 K were of nanocrystalline in nature with wurtzite structure. The crystallite size of the films was increased with the increase of substrate temperature. The optical transmittance of the films was in the visible range was 80-85%. The molybdenum (2.7 at %) doped zinc oxide films deposited at substrate temperature of 573 K were of nanocrystalline with electrical resistivity of 7.2x10(-3) Omega cm, optical transmittance of 85 %, optical band gap of 3.35 eV and figure of merit 30.6 Omega(-1)cm(-1).