Manipulation of electrical resistivity and optical properties of zinc oxide thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition and the Sol-Gel method

Abstract

Adjusting and optimizing the electrical resistivity and optical transparency of transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) is critically important to the quality of many solid state devices. In this work, the electrical and optical properties of zinc oxide thin films grown by the sol-gel method and by pulsed laser deposition are studied. A minimum electrical resistivity of 5.7x10 -4(power) Ohm-cm at an oxygen partial pressure of 0.01 mbar for room temperature (RT) growth by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was achieved. This optimal film had a calculated transparency greater than 90 per cent in the visible region. The measurement techniques used and a full exploration of the various growth parameters (growth temperature, ambient gas type, ambient gas pressure, and annealing treatments) are discussed. The optimized growth parameters were applied to create a TCO top contact to nanorod structures that are potentially useful as solar cell devices. The application of this optimized film offers future work possibilities to perfect a promising up and coming device.