Optimization of ZnO:Al/Ag/ZnO:Al structures for ultra-thin high-performance transparent conductive electrodes

6533b86efe1ef96bd12cca3d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Optimization of ZnO:Al/Ag/ZnO:Al structures for ultra-thin high-performance transparent conductive electrodes

Francesca Simone Stefano Boscarino Antonio Terrasi Isodiana Crupi Salvatore Mirabella V. Strano

subject

High transmittance Diffusion rf-Magnetron sputtering Electro-optical characteristic Glass substrate Transparent conductive oxide RF magnetron sputtering Optical properties Electrical resistivity Al-doped zinc oxide Silver Multilayers Settore ING-INF/01 - Elettronica SUBSTRATE-TEMPERATURE Ag diffusion Al-doped ZnO Low resistance Multilayer ZNO Materials Chemistry Visible spectral range MULTILAYER FILMS Al-doped zinc oxide Optical properties Metals and Alloys AZO film Electrical resistivity OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OXIDE-FILMS Surfaces and Interfaces Zinc oxide Aluminum Radio frequency magnetron sputtering Surfaces Coatings and Films Electronic Optical and Magnetic Materials Optical and electrical propertie Electrode Optoelectronics Film preparation Layer (electronics)Magnetron sputtering Ultra-thin RF magnetron sputtering Materials science Silver Thermodynamic stability Optics Transparent conductive oxide Electrical resistivity and conductivity Thermal stability Electrical conductor Transparent conducting film Room temperature Thin film solar cell business.industry Transparent conductive Optical propertie Silver layer High transmittance Multilayers Multi-layer-coating ZnO Electric conductivity Measured propertie business Substrate

description

Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/Ag/AZO multilayer coatings (50-70 nm thick) were grown at room temperature on glass substrates with different silver layer thickness, from 3 to 19 nm, by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Thermal stability of the compositional, optical and electrical properties of the AZO/Ag/AZO structures were investigated up to 400 °C and as a function of Ag film thickness. An AZO film as thin as 20 nm is an excellent barrier to Ag diffusion. The inclusion of 9.5 nm thin silver layer within the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) material leads to a maximum enhancement of the electro-optical characteristics. The excellent measured properties of low resistance, high transmittance in the visible spectral range and thermal stability allow these ultra-thin AZO/Ag/AZO structures to compete with the 1 μm thick TCO layer currently used in thin film solar cells. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

year	journal	country	edition	language
2012-04-01

10.1016/j.tsf.2012.02.080 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/11911