Rapid thermal annealing effect on the spatial resistivity distribution of AZO thin films deposited by pulsed-direct-current sputtering for solar cells applications
Abstract
Room temperature deposited aluminium-doped zinc oxide thin films on glass substrate, using pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering, have shown high optical transmittance and low electrical resistivity with high uniformity of its spatial distribution after they were exposed to a rapid thermal annealing process at 400 °C under N2H2 atmosphere. It is particularly interesting to note that such an annealing process of AZO thin films for only 30 s was sufficient, on one hand to improve their optical transmittance from 73% to 86%, on the other hand to both decrease their resistivity from 1.7 × 10-3 Ω cm to 5.1 × 10-4 Ω cm and achieve the highest uniformity spatial distribution. To understand the mechanisms behind such improvements of the optoelectronic properties, electrical, optical, structural and morphological changes as a function of annealing time have been investigated by using hall measurement, UV-visible spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope imaging, respectively.
- Publication:
-
Applied Surface Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.01.054
- Bibcode:
- 2016ApSS..366...53A
- Keywords:
-
- AZO thin films;
- Pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering;
- Rapid thermal annealing;
- Spatial resistivity distribution;
- CIGS solar cells