Effect of O2 partial pressure on optical and electrical properties in Al doped ZnO thin films

Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were synthesised on single crystal silicon and quartz glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition method at different O-2 partial pressure. The structure, composition, optical and electrical properties in AZO thin films were investigated. With the increase in O-2 partial pressure, the crystalline quality of AZO thin films becomes poor, and the Al content in the films decreases from 6.3 to 4.3%. The former leads to the enhancement of grain boundary scattering, consequently Hall mobility will decrease. While the latter results in the decrease of carrier concentration. As a result, the electrical resistivity in AZO thin films increases from 2.18 x 10(-4) to 13.40 x 10(-4) Omega cm with increasing the O-2 partial pressure. The increase of carrier concentration induces the widening of optical band gap due to the Burstein-Moss effect with the increase of O-2 partial pressure. For AZO thin films grown by PLD method, the control of O-2 partial pressure is a simple method to adjust the electrical resistivity, optical band gap and UV emission in the films.