Thickness Dependence of Structural and Optical Characteristics of AZO Thin Films for Organic Photovoltaic Cells

Abstract:

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films with highly (002)-preferred orientation were grown on glass substrates by rf magnetron sputtering. The effect of thickness on structural and optical characteristics of the deposited films were investigated by X-ray diffractometer and spectrophotometer. The results show that the polycrystalline AZO films consist of the hexagonal crystal structures with c-axis as the preferred growth orientation normal to the substrate, and that the thickness significantly affects the crystal structure and optical properties of the thin films. With the increase of thickness, the crystallite size of the films increases, the lattice spacing, dislocation density, micro strain and optical energy gap decrease, and the average transmitance in the wavelength range of the visible spectrum also slightly decreases.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 117-119)
• Pages: 1076-1079
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.117-119.1076
• Online since: October 2011
• Authors: S.L. Wei, L.H. Zeng, Z.Y. Zhong, J.H. Gu
• Keywords: AZO Thin Film, Microstructure, Optical Characteristics, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

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