Abstract
Transparent, conductive electrode films, showing the particular characteristics of good conductivity and high transparency, are of considerable research interest because of their potential for use in opto-electronic applications, such as smart window, photovoltaic cells and flat panel displays. Multilayer transparent electrodes, having a much lower electrical resistance than widely-used transparent conducting oxide electrodes, were prepared by using RF/DC magnetron sputtering system. The multilayer structure consisted of three layers, [NiInZnO(NIZO)/Ag/NIZO]. The optical and electrical properties of the multilayered NIZO/Ag/NIZO structure were investigated in relation to the thickness of each layer. The optical and electrical characteristics of multilayer structures have been investigated as a function of the Ag and NIZO film thickness. High-quality transparent conductive films have been obtained, with sheet resistance of $9.8{\Omega}/sq$ for Ag film thickness of 8 nm. Also the multilayer films of inserted Ag 8 nm thickness showed a high optical transmittance above 93% in the visible range. The electrical and optical properties of the new multilayer films were mainly dependent on the thickness of Ag insertion layer.