Hydrogenation of ZnO:Al Thin Films Using Hot Filament

ZnO : Al films were prepared through the optimization process of aluminum content and substrate temperature in rf-magnetron sputtering. When hydrogenation was performed on these films using a hot filament method, all films showed improvement in conductivity although more conductive film showed less improvement. When the substrate temperature ($T_H$) was varied from $25^{\circ}C\;to\;300^{\circ}C$ during hydrogenation, the resistivity was reduced more at higher $T_H$ (more than 30% at $T_H=300^{\circ}C$) Thus, two methods were developed to suppress the dehydrogenation in ZnO : Al films : (1) capping with amorphous silicon thin film as a diffusion barrier, and (2) cooling during hydrogenation.