THE EFFECT OF ANNEALING ON THE PROPERTIES OF ZNO:AL FILMS GROWN BY RF MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Abstract

The effect of annealing temperature ranged from 200 to 600 °C on the structural, optical and electrical properties of aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films was reported. The thin films were deposited on glass and silicon substrates by rf magnetron sputtering method using ZnO target (diameter 7,5 cm) mixed with 2 wt.% Al2O3. It has been found that the crystal structure of ZnO:Al films is hexagonal with c-axis preferential orientation. With an increase in the annealing temperature the intrinsic compressive stress was found to decrease, and near stress-free film was obtained after annealing at 600 °C. A resistivity of 1.25x10-3 cm and an average transmittance above 90 % in visible range were obtained for films prepared at room temperature.