Effect of Annealing on the Morphology, Structure and Photoelectric Properties of AZO/Pt/FTO Trilayer Films

doi:10.1007/s40195-014-0194-4

Abstract

Abstract:

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide/platinum/fluorine-doped tin oxide (AZO/Pt/FTO) trilayer films were prepared by sputtering 5-nm-thick Pt layers and 150-nm-thick AZO layers in sequence on commercial FTO glass. The effects of one-step annealing and layer-by-layer annealing on the morphology, structure and photoelectric properties of the AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films were comparatively analyzed. It is found that the both annealing approaches increased the grain size and improved the crystallinity of the films, leading to enhancement in transmittance and conductivity. However, layer-by-layer annealing led to the formation of quasi-continuous or continuous AZO layers, different from the sparsely distributed AZO particles brought about by one-step annealing, resulting in excellent optical and electrical properties. Specifically, after layer-by-layer annealing at 400 °C for both Pt and AZO layers, the AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer film showed an increase in average transmittance from 71.3% to 85.3% and a decrease in sheet resistance from 7.5 to 5.6 Ω/□, leading to the highest figure of merit of 3.64 × 10^-2Ω^-1.

Key words: Annealing, Magnetron sputtering, Optical property, Electrical property, AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer film

Li-Jing Huang, Nai-Fei Ren, Bao-Jia Li, Ming Zhou. Effect of Annealing on the Morphology, Structure and Photoelectric Properties of AZO/Pt/FTO Trilayer Films[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2015, 28(3): 281-288.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 SEM images of the as-deposited AZO/Pt/FTO film: a top view (the inset shows the particle size distribution on the film surface); b cross-sectional view

Fig. 2 SEM images of a-c the one-step-annealed, d-f the layer-by-layer-annealed AZO/Pt/FTO films at various temperatures: a, d 300 °C; b, e 400 °C; c, f 500 °C. The insets show the particle size distributions on the film surfaces

Fig. 3 AFM images of the as-deposited AZO/Pt/FTO film a, the one-step-annealed AZO/Pt/FTO film at 400 °C b, the layer-by-layer-annealed AZO/Pt/FTO film at 400 °C c

Fig. 4 Extracted surface RMS roughnesses of the as-deposited and the annealed AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films

Fig. 5 a XRD patterns of the as-deposited AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer film and the layer-by-layer-annealed AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films at various temperatures; b XRD patterns of the as-deposited AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer film and the AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films annealed at 400 °C by two approaches

Fig. 6 a Transmittance spectra and b average transmittances (400-1,000 nm) of the as-deposited and the annealed AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films

Fig. 7 Sheet resistances and carrier concentrations of the as-deposited and the annealed AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films

Fig. 8 Figures of merit of the as-deposited and the annealed AZO/Pt/FTO trilayer films

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