Properties of aluminum doped zinc oxide materials and sputtering thin films

Since carriers in the thin film have different compositions of Zn and O from those in a typical ZnO thin film, it makes the films unstable. Therefore, in practical applications, the material is always doped with other elements to increase its stability and reduce its resistivity. In the grouting process, highly stable plasma is obtained through the stirring of oxide ZnO doped with Al (AZO) powder, the appropriate addition of suitable dispersants, the enhancement of solidified contents and the control of appropriate viscosity. In this study, AZO could be sintered at a temperature between 1350 and 1600 C, and its lowest target resistivity obtained was 0.5 Omega-cm. During this temperature range, the best theoretical density of AZO target obtained is above 1500 C. From our results of XRD measurements, the structure of AZO target we made is wurzite hexagonal. In summary, a 98 wt% ZnO-2 wt% Al2O3 ceramic target could be used to deposit ZnO: Al films by RF magnetron sputtering. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.