Influence of dopant nature on the TCO properties of ZnO:M (M=Al, Ga, Sn, Si, Ge) thin films

ABSTRACTAiming at clarifying the opto-electronic properties of ZnO based n-type Transparent Conducting Oxides, TCOs, properties of ZnO thin films are studied as a function of cationic doping. In addition to commonly reported, Al and Ga trivalent dopant, similar performances are reported for Si doping. In the visible region, ZnO:Si (3 %) thin film exhibit a transmittance higher than 80 % for a resistivity as low as 8x10-4 Ω.cm when grown at 100 °C under 1.0 Pa oxygen pressure. The influence of tetravalent cations as dopant is also investigated through Sn and Ge additions. It shows that not only the oxidation state plays a role but also the cation nature. Indeed, ZnO:Sn thin films are insulating whereas the ZnO:Ge thin films are conductive with resistivity values higher than the ones of ZnO:Si thin films.