Electronic transport and carrier concentration in conductive ZnO:Ga thin films

Transparent and conductive Ga-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) films were post-annealed after sputter deposition, and their structural and electrical properties were investigated. Post-annealing led to an improvement of crystallinity along the [001] direction, but did not change lateral grain size. Therefore, carrier concentration and electron mobility of films were analyzed as a function of crystallinity. The electrical parameters were obtained with both optical reflectance based on the Drude free-electron model and the Hall method, and similar tendencies were observed within the two methods. Even though the lowest resistivity was demonstrated by the film annealed at 550 °C, the optimum values for carrier concentration and mobility were observed in films with different post-annealing temperatures.

► Electrical parameters of Ga-doped ZnO films were deduced using the Drude model.
► Carrier concentration and electron mobility were analyzed in terms of crystallinity.
► The Drude model and Hall method showed similar tendencies in electrical properties.