Browse > Article

A Study on the Dependency of Pulsed-DC Sputtered Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films on the Reverse Pulse Time  

Ryu, Hyungseok (Department of Electronics Engineering, Gachon University)
Zhao, Zhenqian (Department of Electronics Engineering, Gachon University)
Kwon, Sang Jik (Department of Electronics Engineering, Gachon University)
Cho, Eou Sik (Department of Electronics Engineering, Gachon University)
Publication Information
Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology / v.17, no.4, 2018 , pp. 32-36 More about this Journal
Abstract
For various oxygen($O_2$) to argon(Ar) gas ratio, aluminum-doped zinc oxide(AZO) films were deposited for 3 min at different duty ratio by changing reverse pulse times. As the duty ratio increased, the thickness of the AZO film decreased and the sheet resistance increased. It can be concluded that When sputtering AZO Thin film, oxygen interfered with sputtering. When the reverse time was increased, the thickness of AZO was proportional to the real sputtering time and decreased. From the optical transmittance and sheet resistance, it was possible to obtain a higher figure of merits of AZO at a lower reverse pulse time. Even at the short reversed pulse time, it can be concluded that the accumulated charges on the AZO target are completely cleared. At a lower reverse pulse time, pulsed-DC sputtering of AZO is expected to be used instead of DC sputtering in the deposition of transparent conductive oxide(TCO) films without any degradation in thickness and structural/electrical characteristics.
Keywords
Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide (AZO); Pulsed-DC Sputtering; Reverse Pulse Time; $O_2$/Ar Gas Ratio;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Li, Z.-H. and Kwon, S. J., "Process optimization of Al-doped zinc oxide films as a window layer for $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ thin film solar cells," Applied Surface Science. Vol. 284, pp. 379-385, (2013).   DOI
2 Kim, S-Y., Kwon, S-J., "High Conductive Transparent Electrode of ITO/Ag/i-ZnO by In-Line Magnetron Sputtering Method," Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology, Vol. 14, pp. 33-36, (2015).
3 Kim, S. Y., Cho, E. S., and Kwon, S. J., "Effect of moving speed during in-line pulsed direct-current magnetron sputtering deposition on the structural and optical properties of Al-doped ZnO films," Thin Solid Films, Vol. 638, pp. 144-152, (2017).   DOI
4 Ahn, M. H., Cho, E. S., and Kwon, S. J., "The Effect of the Duty Ratio on the Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Film Deposited by In-Line Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtering Method for Touch Panel," Applied Surface Science, Vol. 258, pp. 1242-1248, (2011).   DOI
5 Eom, J. M., Oh, H. G., Cho, I. H., Kwon, S. J., and Cho, E. S., "Effects of the duty ratio on the Niobium Oxide film deposited by Pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering methods," Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Vol. 13, pp. 7760-7765, (2013).   DOI
6 Lee, Y. J., Cho, E. S., Kwon, S. J., "Pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering of intrinsic ZnO film and its application to CIS solar cell," Vacuum., Vol. 126, pp. 91-100, (2016).   DOI
7 Lee, Y. J., Cho, E. S., an Kwon, S. J., "A Study on the Effect of process pressure on AZO Thin Films Sputtered for the Windows Layer of CIGS Solar cells," Semiconductor & Display Technology, Vol.16, pp 89-93, (2017).
8 Lee D. N., "A model for development of orientation of vapour deposits," J. Mater. Sci., 24(12), pp. 4375-4378, (1989).   DOI