Low-temperature deposited ZnO thin films on the flexible substrate by cathodic vacuum arc technology

In this paper, un-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) films with various thicknesses (150, 250, 350, 450 and 550 nm) were successfully prepared onto PET substrates using cathodic vacuum arc technique at low-temperature (<40 °C). Their microstructure, optical and electrical properties were investigated and discussed. The films showed (0 0 2) peaks, an average transmittance over 80% in the visible region. Calculated values of the band gap are around 3.29–3.33 eV when the film thickness increased, indicating a slight blue shift of optical transmission spectra. The lowest resistivity about 5.26 × 10−3 Ω cm could be achieved for the un-doped ZnO film with thickness of 550 nm. Highlights ► Low-temperature deposited un-doped ZnO films are successful prepared on PET substrates by using CAPD system. ► The effect of film thickness on the microstructure, optical and electrical properties of low-temperature deposited un-doped ZnO films by CAPD were investigated and discussed. ► This report may give significant information about how to deposit high quality ZnO thin films with desired optical and/or electrical properties at a low temperature using CAPD on the applications to be a newer alternatives to ITO in the display industries.