The enhanced conductivity of AZO thin films on soda lime glass with an ultrathin Al2O3 buffer layer

Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on the Al2O3-coated and bare soda lime glass substrates, respectively. The properties of AZO films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), Hall effect measurement and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrophotometer. The results of XRD measurement showed that all the AZO thin films had a preferentially oriented (0 0 2) peak and the intensity of (0 0 2) peak decreased with increase in the thickness of the Al2O3 buffer layer. The Hall measurement results showed that the conductivity of the AZO film with a 3 nm Al2O3 buffer layer had a remarkable 41.3% increase when compared with that of the single AZO film. The figures of merit from optical transmittance and electrical conductivity for AZO films on the 3 nm Al2O3-coated and bare glass substrates were 5466 and 3772 S cm−1, respectively. All the results suggested that the use of an ultrathin Al2O3 buffer layer effectively improved the quality of AZO film on the glass substrate.