Effect of Substrate Temperature on Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties of AZO Thin Films by RF Magnetron Sputtering for Optoelectronic Devices

Aluminium Zinc Oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method at different substrate temperatures from RT to 400oC. The structural, optical, electrical properties of AZO thin films deposited with various substrate temperatures were investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), UVVis spectrophotometer and Hall effect measurement system. X-Ray diffraction pattern of AZO films shows (0 0 2) with a hexagonal wurtzite structure preferentially oriented along C-axis. The grain size increases from 0.6 to 1.44μm with increase of substrate temperature. The average transmittance of AZO films about 84% in the UV-Visible region and sharp edge occurs at 380 nm. The band gap increases with increase of substrate temperature from 3.34 to 3.46 eV and this may be attributed to Burstein-Moss shift. The lowest resistivity of 5.37 X 10-4 Ω.cm, is obtained for the thin films deposited at 400°C, these results are suitable for optoelectronic applications such as transparent electrodes for solar cells, flat panel displays and organic lightemitting diodes.