Highly transparent conductive F-doped ZnO films in wide range of visible and near infrared wavelength deposited on polycarbonate substrates

Highly transparent fluorine-doped ZnO thin films in the visible and near infrared region with/without ZnO buffer layers were prepared by magnetron sputtering on flexible substrates at room temperature. Structural, electrical, and optical properties of FZO/PC films were investigated as a function of sputtering pressure ranging from 0.1 to 1 Pa. Lowest resistivity of 7.66 × 10−2 Ω cm, with carrier concentration of 1.31 × 1020 cm−3 and Hall mobility of 0.62 cm2 V−1 s−1, was achieved at 0.3 Pa. Importantly, an average optical transmittance of above 80% was achieved for all doped films in the spectrum range of 300–2000 nm. With a ZnO buffer layer, the electrical resistivity of FZO/ZnO/PC films reduced to 5.82 × 10−3 Ω cm with Hall mobility improved from 0.618 cm2 V−1 s−1 to 8.08 cm2 V−1 s−1, as the crystal quality was significantly improved.