Aluminum doped zinc oxide was prepared by magnetron sputtering methods at room temperature using a ZnO ceramic target doped 2%wt by Al2O3. The optical transmittance of the films is higher than 80% in the visible range. A direct bandgap type was reached by controlling deposition conditions; the bandgap value was in the range between eV and eV. Good electrical and optical properties were obtained for the films deposited by an appropriate cosputtering of ZnO and Al targets. These films with a resistivity, about ×10−, and a transmittance, higher than 80%, can be applicable for transparent conducting electrodes. | Communications in Physics, Vol. 25, No. 4 (2015), pp. 341-347 DOI: CHARACTERIZATION OF ZnO:Al DEPOSITED BY CO-SPUTTERING FOR TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE ELECTRODES NGUYEN TRAN THUAT, BUI BAO THOA, THAN THI CUC, NGUYEN MINH HIEU, HOANG NGOC LAM HUONG, AND BUI VAN DIEP Nano and Energy Center, VNU University of Science, 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam HOANG CHI HIEU Faculty of Physics, VNU University of Science, 334 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam E-mail: thuatnt@ Received 29 November 2015 Accepted for publication 24 December 2015 Abstract. Aluminum doped zinc oxide was prepared by magnetron sputtering methods at room temperature using a ZnO ceramic target doped 2%wt by Al2 O3 . The optical transmittance of the films is higher than 80% in the visible range. A direct bandgap type was reached by controlling deposition conditions; the bandgap value was in the range between eV and eV. Good electrical and optical properties were obtained for the films deposited by an appropriate cosputtering of ZnO and Al targets. These films with a resistivity, about ×10−2 , and a transmittance, higher than 80%, can be applicable for transparent conducting electrodes. Keywords: AZO thin film, co-sputtering method, resistivity, transmittance . I. INTRODUCTION Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have been extensively studied because they are essential elements for optoelectronic applications such as thin film solar cells [1], flat-panel displays [2] and light emitting diodes [3, 4]. . . For these applications, the average optical transmittance is up to 80% in the visible range. At the presence, the commonly used TCO material is indium tint oxide (ITO), and there are growing concerns are due to its toxicity, high cost and the limited availability of the element indium [5]. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al or AZO) thin films are attracted a lot of intentions in the research community due to the optical
