Investigation of Optical Properties of Aluminium Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were prepared by magnetron-sputtering. The optical and structural properties of the films were investigated by optical transmission spectra and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, respectively. The results indicate that the AZO films have hexagonal wurtzite structure with highly c-axis preferred orientation. The optical and structural properties of the films are observed to be subjected to the argon pressure. The AZO film prepared at the argon pressure of 0.5 Pa exhibits the largest crystallite size and the highest average visible transmittance. Also, the refractive index and optical energy-gap of the films were determined by optical characterization methods. The dispersion behavior of the refractive index was studied using the Sellmeier’s dispersion model.