Elaboration and Characterization of Sprayed Tb-Doped ZnO Thin Films

ZnO and Tb-doped ZnO (TZO) thin films were deposited on glass substrate at 350 degrees Celsius by spray pyrolysis technique. Structural, optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated as a function of dopant concentration, which was varied between 0 and 5 at % of terbium. TZO films were polycrystalline and exhibit hexagonal quartzite crystal structure with a preferential orientation along (002) direction. The AFM measurements show that the roughness of the films increased with Tb doping. All the TZO films exhibit a transmittance between 70% and 80% in the visible range. The TZO films were n-type degenerate semiconductor with a lowest electrical resistivity of about 6.0x10^sup -2^ Ω.cm.