Effect of film thickness on morphological, structural and electrical properties of InAlN thin layers grown on glass at room temperature

In 2008, the alloy aluminum indium nitride, InAlN, was postulated as an excellent candidate to form high-efficiency solar cells. Therefore, the study of physical properties of this ternary alloy on transparent substrates is of paramount importance. In the present research, layers of different thickness of In 0.63 Al 0.37 N were synthesized using the technique of DC magnetron sputtering on glass substrates. The thickness of the InAlN layers obtained was 37 nm, 80 nm, 130 nm, 235 nm and 320 nm. The structural and morphological analysis shows polycrystalline films whose grain size and roughness vary depending on the thickness of the layer. Measurements using Hall effect showed that the density of free carriers exhibits a behavior quite similar to grain size. In general, the behavior of the properties can be attributed to the polycrystalline structure of In x Al 1-x N films, which represents an interesting aspect for its future use in solar cells.