The effect of heating rate on the structural and electrical properties of sol-gel derived Al-doped ZnO films

► Effect of heating rate in annealing process for sol-gel-derived AZO film was studied. ► The AZO film with nanorod structure was obtained by a rapid heating rate. ► The AZO nanorods enhance the conductivity of the film significantly. ► We offer a new method to improve the electrical property of sol-gel-derived TCO film.