Sol-gel deposition and plasma treatment of intrinsic, aluminum-doped, and gallium-doped zinc oxide thin films as transparent conductive electrodes

Zinc oxide and aluminum/gallium-doped zinc oxide thin films were deposited via sol-gel spin-coating technique. Employing plasma treatment as alternative to post thermal annealing, we found that the morphologies of these thin films have changed and the sheet resistances have been significantly enhanced. These plasma-treated thin films also show very good optical properties, with transmittance above 90% averaged over the visible wavelength range. Our best aluminum/gallium-doped zinc oxide thin films exhibit sheet resistances (Rs) of ~ 200 Ω/sq and ~ 150 Ω/sq, respectively.