Highly conductive thin films of nonmetal F and B co-doped ZnO on flexible substrates: Experiment and first-principles calculations

Nonmetal F and B co-doped ZnO (BFZO) thin films were deposited on flexible substrates by magnetron sputtering method and the electrical and optical properties of these films were studied. The resistivity of the prepared thin film was 1.64 × 10−3  cm, the carrier mobility was 5.18 cm2 V−1 s−1, and the electron concentration was 7.99 × 1020 cm−3, and the square resistance was 81.9. First-principles calculations were used to explain the origin of high conductivity, and the results indicates that the structure is most stable when the F atom is close to the B atom in the (0110) plane, and the partial density of states of B-F co-doped ZnO shows that the B impurity plays a vital role in enhancing electrical properties.