Transparent conducting zirconium-doped zinc oxide films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering

Abstract Transparent and conducting zirconium-doped zinc oxide films with high transparency and relatively low resistivity have been successfully prepared by rf magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The lowest resistivity achieved was 2.93 × 10−3 Ω cm for a thickness of 475 nm with a Hall mobility of 13 cm2 V−1 s−1 and a carrier concentration of 1.71 × 1020 cm−3. The films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal structure and a preferred orientation along the c-axis. All the films present a high transmittance of approximately 90% in the visible range. The optical band gap decreases from 3.42 to 3.27 eV as the thickness increases from 100 to 600 nm.