Highly Conductive ZnO1–xSx Alloys: CVT Sintering of Ceramic Magnetron Targets and Features of Thin Films

Sintering (ZnO−ZnS):Ga2O3 alloys ([ZnS] = 0–50 mol %) has been developed using chemical vapor transport with an HCl + H2 gas mixture as the transport agent. It has been demonstrated that this complex transport agent can form a dense gaseous medium with Zn-, O-, and S-containing species, which promotes mass transport of the sintered material, enhances the dissolution rate of Ga2O3 dopant, and allows to control stoichiometric deviation. Key benefits of the proposed method include a low sintering temperature of 900°C, the use of cost-effective micropowders as a material source, minimal loss of the sintered material, increased conductivity (by one order of magnitude) due to improved dissolution of Ga impurities and stoichiometric deviation in the sintered material. Additionally, the resistivity of the thin films decreases by up to one order of magnitude as a results of stoichiometric deviation of the targets. A high ZnS content in the films promotes the growth of crystallites with (100) orientation, reduces transparency, conductivity, surface roughness and increases the wettability of the coatings.