Electrical and mechanical stability of aluminum-doped ZnO films grown on flexible substrates by atomic layer deposition

•Transparent and conductive ZnO:Al films were grown by atomic layer deposition.•The films were grown on flexible substrates at low growth temperatures (110–140 °C).•So-obtained films have low resistivities, of the order of 10−3 Ω cm.•Bending tests indicated a critical bending radius of ≈1.2 cm.•Possible sources of the film resistivity changes upon bending are proposed.

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films were grown on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at low deposition temperatures (110–140 °C). The films have low resistivities, ∼10−3 Ω cm, and high transparency (∼90%) in the visible range. Bending tests indicated a critical bending radius of ≈1.2 cm, below which the resistivity changes became irreversible. The films deposited on PET with additional buffer layer are more stable upon bending and temperature changes.