Room temperature sputtering deposition of high-haze Ga-doped ZnO transparent conductive thin films on self-textured bio-based poly(ethylene 2, 5-furandicarboxylate) substrates

In this work, bio-based poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF) films were prepared by drop-casting method and used as substrates for depositing Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) transparent conductive thin films. Results showed that the 300-nm GZO thin films deposited on PEF substrates exhibited haze values above 65% at 550 nm without post-treatment. The high haze value was because of the large surface roughness of PEF films. The total optical transmittance and electrical properties of GZO thin films on PEF were comparable to those of GZO thin films on PET. The present study provides a simple way for the sputtering deposition of high-haze transparent conductive thin films on flexible substrates.