Gallium doped zinc oxide thin films as transparent conducting oxide for thin-film heaters

The addition of suitable metallic dopants into the indium or zinc oxide matrix is essential to obtain transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films for high-performance optoelectronics devices. However, scarcity of indium is one of the major challenges for the common use of indium doped tin oxide (ITO) as a TCO material for future state-of-the-art devices. To overcome the challenge, doped zinc oxide is used an alternative material for traditional ITO and retains both high transparency and electrical conductivity. One such potential material is gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO). GZO thin films were deposited onto glass as well as Kapton substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique. Structural, optical, and electro-thermal properties of these films were studied to assess the performance of the films as thin-film transparent heaters. The samples show a good transmittance value greater than 85% in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. At room temperature, the electrical resistivity of GZO films showed a value of 110.46 × 10−4 Ω cm on glass and 2.90 × 10−4 Ω cm on the Kapton substrate, followed by a Joule heating effect, with temperatures reaching more than 120 °C at an applied voltage of ∼12 V. This high transparency, cost-effectiveness, low sheet resistance, and small surface roughness make GZO a unique and potential candidate for various practical applications not only as a transparent electrode but also as an indium free thin-film transparent heater and an affordable transparent conducting oxide in displays.