• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.543-551
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• 2012

In this study, transparent conducting Al-doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) films with a thickness of 150 nm were prepared on corning glass substrate by the RF magnetron sputtering with using a Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO), ($Al_2O_3$: 2 wt%) target at room temperature. This study investigated the effect of rapid thermal annealing temperature and oxygen ambient on structural, electrical and optical properties of Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films. The films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 400 to $700^{\circ}C$ by using Rapid thermal equipment in oxygen ambient. The effect of RTA treatment on the structural properties were studied by x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. It is observed that the Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin film annealed at $500^{\circ}C$ at 5 minute oxygen ambient gas reveals the strongest XRD emission intensity and narrowest full width at half maximum among the temperature studied. The enhanced UV emission from the film annealed at $500^{\circ}C$ at 5 minute oxygen ambient gas is attributed to the improved crystalline quality of Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin film due to the effective relaxation of residual compressive stress and achieving maximum grain size.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.592-598
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• 1998

AZO(Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide) thin films were fabricated by reactive DC magnetron sputtering method using zinc metal target (Al 2%) and zinc oxide target ($Al_2O_3\;2%$) respectively. The intermediate condition with optimum transmittance and conductivity was obtained by controlling the sputtering parameters. Oxygen gas ratio for this condition was $0.5{\times}10^{-2}~1.0{\times}10^{-2}$ in oxide target and. In case of metal target, this optimum oxygen gas ratio at the applied power of 0.6 kW and 1.0 kW was 0.215~0.227 and 0.305~0.315, respectively. The resistivity of AZO film deposited was obtained $1.2~1.4{\times}10^{-3} {\Omega}{\cdot}$cm as deposited state regardless of target species.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.277-283
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• 2009

In this paper, aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films on plastic substrate such as poly carbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering method for flexible solar cell applications. Effects of the sputter pressure on the structural, electrical and optical properties were investigated. The crystallinity and the degree of the (002) orientation were deteriorated with increasing the sputter pressure. When the sputter pressure was higher, the conductivity of ZnO:Al films was improved because of the high carrier concentration and the Hall mobility. High quality ZnO:Al films with resistivity as low as $1.9{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}-cm$ and the optical transmittance over 80 % in the visible region have been obtained on PC substrate at 2 mTorr.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.205-209
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• 2011

Zinc oxide has semi-conductivity and super conductivity characteristics. It can be used optically and is applied on many areas such as gas sensor, solar cell and optical waveguide. In this paper, to improve optical characteristics of ZnO, aluminum was added on zinc oxide. Zinc oxide and aluminum zinc oxide was fabricated as nano fiber form. ZnO solution was created by mixing poly vinyl pyrrolidone, ethyl alcohol, and zinc acetate. An Al doped ZnO was created by adding aluminum solution to ZnO sol. By applying these sols on electro spinning method, nano fibers were fabricated. These fibers are heat treated at 300, 500, and $700^{\circ}C$ degrees and were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine the nano structures. TGA and DSC measurement was also used to measure the change of mass and calorie upon temperature change. The absorbance of ZnO and Al-doped ZnO was carried out by UV-vis measurement.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.711-715
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• 2007

Properties of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) anodes showed different behaviors from OLEDs with indium tin oxide (ITO) anodes according to driving conditions. OLEDs with ITO anodes gave higher current density and luminance in lower voltage region and better EL and power efficiency under lower current density conditions, However, OLEDs with ZnO:Al anodes gave higher current density and luminance in higher voltage region over about 8V and better EL and power efficiency under higher current density over $200mA/cm^2$. These seemed to be due to the differences in conduction properties of semiconducting ZnO:Al and metallic ITO. OLEDs with ZnO:Al anodes showed nearly saturated efficiency under high current driving conditions compared with those of OLEDs with ITO anodes. This meant better charge balance in OLEDs with ZnO:Al anodes. These properties of OLEDs with ZnO:Al anodes are useful in making bright display devices with efficiency.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.163-167
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• 2013

Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been prepared on the glass substrates (Corning 1737) by sol-gel dip-coating method employing zinc acetate and aluminum chloride hexahydrate for the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) applications. 1 at% Al was doped to the ZnO thin films. The effects of post-heating temperature on the crystallization, optical and electrical properties of the AZO films have been investigated. Experimental results showed that post-heating temperature affected the microstructure, electrical resistance, and optical transmittance of the AZO films. From the X-ray diffraction analysis, all films have hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure. Optical transmittance spectra of the AZO films exhibited transmittance higher than about 80% within the visible wavelength region and the optical direct band gap ($E_g$) of these films was increased with increasing post-heating temperature. A minimum resistivity of $2.5{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$ was observed at $650^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.43-46
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• 2011

In this study, we investigated the effects of the post Ar plasma treatment at different RF powers for various durations on electrical, structural, and optical properties of relatively thin Al-doped zinc oxide films. The sheet resistance was observed to decrease rapidly for the first 5min, beyond which the resistance apparently saturated. As the RF power increased, the grain size and the interplanar distance of (002) planes also increased. The observed decrease in sheet resistance was stated to be a consequence of Al and/or Zn interstitials as well as grain growth. It was also found that Ar plasma treatment increased the transmittance of Al-doped zinc oxide films in most of the visible light range below the blue light.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.480-492
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• 1996

AZO (Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide) transparent conducting thin films were fabricated by reactive DC mangnetron sputtering method using zinc target containing 2 wt% of Al. Transition range with optimum transmittance and conductivity was obtained by contrlling partial pressure of reactive oxygen gas. Sputtering condition for this transition range could be kept stable by regulating the target voltage. According to XRD analysis, there was only one peak for (002) plane in AZO films and the films deposited in transition range.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1555-1562
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• 2015

Metal oxide semiconductors have been applied in several areas, such as solar cells, sensor, optical elements and displays, due to the high surface area, unique electrical and optical characteristics. Zinc oxide among the metal oxide has excellent physicochemical properties. Zinc oxide is a n-type semiconductor with a wide direct transition band gap of 3.37 eV at room temperature and large exciton binding energy of 60 meV. Cation-doped zinc oxide studies were conducted to complement the electrical and optical characteristics. In this paper, Al-doped ZnO was synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis using microwaves. ZnO was synthesized by adjusting the precursor ratio and using different dopants. The optimal ZnO synthesis conditions for crystal shape and optical properties were determined. The optical properties of aluminum doped zinc oxide were then examined by SEM, XRD, PL, UV-vis absorbance spectrum, and EDS.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2010

In this study, transparent and conductive Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films were prepared on a glass substrate by an radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method using a 150-nm-thick AZO target (Al: 2 wt.%) at room temperature. We investigated the effects of RF power between 100-350 W (in steps of 50 W) on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of the AZO films. The thickness and cross-sectional images of the films were observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The thicknesses of all films were kept constant at 150 nm and grown on a glass substrate. The grain sizes of the AZO films were determined with the X-ray diffraction by using the Scherrer' equation, and their electrical properties were investigated using a Hall effect electronic transport measurement system. The transmittance of the AZO films was also measured by an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer.