Properties of Transparent Conductive Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) Films in Bending

Structural, electrical and bending properties of highly transparent conductive polycrystalline Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) films deposited on polyester substrates at various temperatures below 100 degrees C by ion plating with dc-arc discharge were investigated. Analysis of data obtained from XRD measurements and cross-sectional SEM images show that polycrystalline GZO films with wurtzite structure exhibit highly (0002) orientation perpendicular to the substrate. The resistivity and average transmittance in the visible wavelength region of GZO films of 100 nm thickness on polyester substrates were 5.0 x 10(-4) ohm-cm and more than 80 %, respectively. The mechanical bending properties of the GZO films were investigated on the basis of a comparison of sheet resistance between before and after a bending test. The bending test was carried out for the GZO films deposited at various process temperatures. The GZO films deposited at lower substrate temperatures exhibit improved bending performance. We developed a multiple-deposition method to achieve controllable different polyester substrate temperatures and determined the relationship between the bending properties of GZO films and substrate temperature.