Comparative study of quaternary Mg and Group III element co-doped ZnO thin films with transparent conductive characteristics

•Mg and Group III Co-doped ZnO thin films were prepared by RF sputtering technique.•The Co-doped ZnO thin films showed better properties than those of un-doped.•The Mg and Ga Co-doped ZnO (MGZO) thin film showed the best properties.•The MGZO thin films showed the band gap of 3.75 eV and resistivity of 1.83 × 10− 3 Ω cm.

Mg and Ga co-doped ZnO (MgxGayZnzO, x + y + z = 1, x = 0.05, y = 0.02 and z = 0.93, MGZO), Mg and Al co-doped ZnO (MgxAlyZnzO, x + y + z = 1, x = 0.05, y = 0.02 and z = 0.93, MAZO), Mg and In co-doped ZnO (MgxInyZnzO, x + y + z = 1, x = 0.05, y = 0.02 and z = 0.93, MIZO), Mg doped ZnO (MgxZnyO, x + y = 1, x = 0.05 and y = 0.95, MZO) and pure ZnO thin films have been prepared on the glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. Their structural, morphological, compositional, electrical, and optical properties were characterized.The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the thin films were grown as a hexagonal wurtzite phase with c-axis preferred orientation without secondary phase. The (0002) peak positions of MGZO, MAZO and MIZO thin films were not significantly changed. The cross-section field emission scanning electron microscopy images of MGZO, MAZO and MIZO thin films showed that all the thin films have a columnar structure with dense morphology. The MGZO thin film showed the best electrical characteristics in terms of the carrier concentration (3.7 × 1020/cm3), charge carrier mobility (8.39 cm2/Vs), and a lower resistivity (1.85 × 10− 3 Ω cm). UV–visible spectroscopy studies showed that the MGZO, MAZO and MIZO thin films exhibit high transmittance over 85% in the visible region. The MGZO thin films showed wider optical band gap energy of 3.75 eV.