Application of RF magnetron sputtering for growth of AZO on glass substrate

• An optimization process of the RF magnetron sputtered AZO was performed.
• The physical properties at different deposition times were studied.
• From optical measurements the films show an average transmission over 60%.

Aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), as one of the most promising transparent conducting oxide (TCO) materials, has now been widely used in thin film solar cells. In this study the optimization process of the RF magnetron sputtered AZO films was performed at room temperature by studying its physical properties such as structural, optical, electrical and morphological at different deposition times (10, 20, 40 and 60 min) for its use as a front contact for the Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) based thin film solar cell applications. Influence of the deposition time was investigated on the physical properties of the AZO thin film by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), spectrophotometer and four point probes. XRD analysis suggests that the preferred orientation of grains for all the samples prepared at different growth times are along (002) plane having the hexagonal structure. From optical measurements the films show an average transmission over 60%. Moreover it was found that by increasing the growth time, which implies increasing the film thicknesses as well as improving the crystallinity the resistivity of the grown films decrease from the 10−2 Ωcm to the order of 10−3 Ωcm.