Comparison of preparation and performance between Ti-doped ZnO thin films and Ti-Al Co-doped ZnO Thin films

Transparent conducting Ti-doped ZnO(TZO) films and Ti-Al co-doped ZnO(TAZO) films with high transparency and relatively low resistivity were successfully prepared on water-cooled glass substrates by a direct current magnetron sputtering at the room temperature. The microstructure, stress, and optic-electrical properties of the prepared films were investigated. The results showed that all the deposited films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal structure and a preferred orientation perpendicular to the substrates along the c-axis. The optical and electrical properties of TAZO thin films are better than that of TZO thin films. When the sputtering power is 100 W, TZO films with the lowest resistivity of 5.17 × 10-4 Ω &middot cm and TAZO films with the resistivity of 3.88 × 10-4 Ω &middot cm are obtained. The visible light transmittance of all TAZO films are above 91%, while the visible light transmittance of all TZO films is only above 85%.