Effects of UV assistance on the properties of al-doped ZnO thin films deposited by sol-gel method

We report here the preparation of aluminum doped zinc oxide transparent conductive thin films by a UV-assisted sol-gel method. It was found that UV irradiation creates ozone, which promotes the conductivity and transparency of the films. Boro-silicate glasses are used as substrates; an PGME is used as a solvent; after spin-coating, the films are dried and radiated with UV and then heated to 400°C for decarburization and 500°C for annealing under air. The surface morphologies of the prepared films are observed by FE-SEM and AFM. It was found that the films irradiated with UV-C are smoother and denser. An XRD analysis shows that the films have a typical wurtzite crystalline structure with a c-axis orientation normal to the surface. The electric resistance values measured with a four-point probe show that the films irradiated with UV have better conductivity (at approximately 3.4 × 10−3Ω-cm) than the films that did not undergo UV irradiation. An analysis by visible light spectrometry indicates that the AZO films irradiated with UV are more transparent than the films without UV-irradiation.