Near Infrared Ray Annealing Effects on the Properties of Al-Doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Spin-Coating Method

Abstract

In this research, we will present Al doped ZnO thin films for transparent conducting oxide applications. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited on the glass substrates by sol gel spin-coating method using zinc acetate dehydrate (Zn(CH3COO)(2)center dot 2H(2)O) and aluminum chloride hexahydrate (AICl(3)center dot 6H(2)O) as cation sources. In this study, we investigated the effects of near infrared ray (NIR) annealing on the structural, optical and electrical characteristics of the AZO thin films. The experimental results showed that AZO thin films have a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure and had a good transmittance higher than 85% within the visible wavelength region. It was also found that the additional energy of NIR helps to improve the electrical properties of Al doped ZnO transparent conducting oxides.