Transparent heater based on Al,Ga co-doped ZnO thin films

•Al,Ga co-doped ZnO thin films were prepared by AACT.•The thin films exhibited a low resistivity of 5.7 × 10−3 Ω·cm.•Films of 400 nm thickness had a transmittance of 90% in the visible region.•A temperature of 132.3 °C was reached by applying 18 V. Al,Ga co-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on to glass substrates by aerosol assisted chemical transport (AACT) and were studied for application as transparent thin film heaters. The film thickness was around 400 nm after 60 min of AACT deposition; this gave a sheet resistance of 142.5 Ω/sq, which corresponded to a resistivity of 5.7 × 10−3 Ω·cm. The thin films exhibited a maximum transmittance of 90% in the visible region. A mean temperature of 132.3 °C was reached after applying a voltage of 18 V for 10 min, giving a power consumption of 2.11 W. These results could provide a possibility to use Al,Ga co-doped ZnO thin films as transparent heaters to replace the more expensive indium tin oxide.