Controlling the electrical property of highly transparent conducting film of Zn coated Al doped ZnO by mechano-chemical pathway of face-to-face annealing

► A thin Zn layer is deposited on top of RF magnetron sputtered AZO film. ► Face-to-face annealing is carried out in Ar atmosphere. ► A carrier concentration of 2.29 × 1021 cm−3, resistivity of ∼10−4 Ω cm has been achieved. ► Forward current of AZO/p-Si is enhanced by ∼1 order of magnitude by white light illumination. ► The AZO films show promising photodiode applications.