The influence of Au thickness on the structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO/Au/ZnO multilayer films

Transparent and conductive ZnO/Au/ZnO (ZAZ) multilayer films were deposited on glass substrates by magnetron sputtering without intentional substrate heating. The thickness of Au interlayer was set at 1,2 and 3 nm. The observed structural, optical and electrical properties were dependent on the thickness of the Au interlayer. For all of the ZAZ films, the diffraction peaks in the XRD pattern were identified as the (002) and (103) planes of a ZnO films and the (111) plane of an Au interlayer. The ZAZ films with a 2 nm thick Au interlayer showed a higher figure of merit than the other ZAZ films prepared in this study, and they also demonstrated the relatively high work function of 5.13 eV. From these results, we concluded that a ZAZ film with a 2 nm thick Au interlayer is an alternative candidate for use as a transparent electrode in OLEDs and various flat panel displays. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.