Crystallographic Orientation in Pure and Aluminum‐Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Sol–Gel Technique

Abstract

Novel sol–gel processes for the preparation of grain‐oriented thin films of pure and aluminum‐doped zinc oxide (AZO) are reported. Using various stabilizing ligands, oxide films with different degree of c ‐axis orientation could be prepared on amorphous substrates. The origin of orientation in sol–gel‐derived ZnO and AZO films is investigated. The texture selection of ZnO films is independent of the heat‐treatment schedule but sensitive to the precursor system. The electrical properties of the films do not depend significantly on the crystallographic orientation. The film visible transmittance remained higher than 90% even after vacuum annealing.