Radio-Frequency Superimposed Direct Current Magnetron Sputtered Ga:ZnO Transparent Conducting Thin Films

The utilization of radio-frequency (RF) superimposed direct-current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposition on the properties of gallium doped ZnO (GZO) based transparent conducting oxides has been examined. The GZO films were deposited using 76.2 mm diameter ZnO:Ga ₂O ₃ (5 at.% Ga vs. Zn) ceramic oxide target on heated non-alkaline glass substrates by varying total power from 60 W to 120 W in steps of 20 W and at various power ratios of RF to DC changing from 0 to 1 in steps of 0.25. The GZO thin films grown with pure DC, mixed approach, and pure RF resulted in conductivities of 2200 ± 200 S/cm, 3920 ± 600 S/cm, and 3610 ± 400 S/cm, respectively. X-ray diffraction showed all films have wurtzite ZnO structure with the c-axis oriented perpendicular to the substrate. The films grown with increasing RF portion of the total power resulted in the improvement of crystallographic texture with smaller full-width half maximum in χ and broadening of optical gap with increased carrier concentration via more efficient doping. Independent of the total sputtering power, all films grown with 50 or higher RF power portion resulted in high mobility (∼28 ± 1 cm ²/Vs), consistent with observed improvements in crystallographic texture. All films showed optical transmittance of ∼90 in the visible range.