The influence of substrate temperature on the properties of aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

Transparent, conducting, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were deposited on Corning 1737 glass by a DC magnetron sputter. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films, deposited using various substrate temperatures, were investigated. The AZO thin films were fabricated with an AZO ceramic target (Al^sub 2^O^sub 3^:2 wt%). The obtained films were polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially oriented in the (002) crystallographic direction. The lowest resistivity was 6.0 × 10^sup -4^Ω cm, with a carrier concentration of 2.7 × 10^sup 20^ cm^sup -3^ and a Hall mobility of 20.4 cm^sup 2^/Vs. The average transmittance in the visible range was above 90%.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]