A depression in structural distortion to improve transparent ZnO electrodes by bismuth doping

Abstract

Bi-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates using radio frequency magnetron sputtering, with varying concentrations of impurities. The effect of Bi concentration on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of these films was investigated. This study indicates that a doping concentration of 1 at% Bi is optimal for enhancing the crystalline quality and photoelectric characteristics of the ZnO films. At this concentration, the films exhibit desirable attributes such as high visible region transmittance (approximately 80%), low resistivity of 1.3×10^-3 Ω.cm, and a high carrier density of 3.8×10²⁰ cm^-3. Furthermore, the presence of Bi impurity was demonstrated to decrease the residual stress, structural distortion, and carrier mobility of the films by reducing point defects in ZnO lattice.