Influence of hydrogen incorporation in sol-gel derived aluminum doped ZnO thin films

Abstract The sol-gel derived aluminum doped ZnO thin films (ZnO : Al) are obtained on corning glass and Si (100) substrates by spin coating technique. As grown films, having optimum level of 0.8 at.% of aluminum doping, show highly preferential c-axis growth. The ZnO : Al films are baked in hydrogen ambient at 350 °C for 90 min. The effect on structural, electrical and optical properties of the films with hydrogen incorporation is investigated. The intensity of X-ray diffraction (002) peak, grain size and the conductivity are found to increase after the incorporation of hydrogen. Fourier Transform Infrared results indicate that hydrogen acts as shallow donor.