Transparent conducting AZO and ITO films produced by pulsed laser ablation at 355 nm

Thin films of aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO) and indium tin oxide (ITO) were deposited on glass substrates by laser ablation in an oxygen environment. The electrical and optical properties of films grown at various oxygen pressures were compared. With no substrate heating, highly transparent and conducting films were obtained with oxygen pressures between 15 and 23 mTorr for both materials. We obtained a specific resistivity of 1.8×10-3 Ω cm for AZO and 1.1×10-3 Ω cm for ITO. By heating the substrate to 160 °C or 200 °C, the resistivity was further reduced to 1.1×10-3 Ω cm for AZO and 3.9×10-4 Ω cm for ITO. The average transmission of visible light (450–750 nm) was between 82% and 98% in most cases. The results suggest that AZO is a promising alternative to ITO.