THE OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF ZnO/Ag/ZnO FILMS ON FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE

Abstract

The deposition of ZnO / Ag / ZnO film on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate was fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering method. The thicknesses of ZnO layers were 30 nm and Ag films' thicknesses were changed from 1 nm to 6 nm by controlled the sputtering time. This kind of film can be used as transparent conductive oxide (TCO) materials. The electrical and optical properties of composite layers were determined by Ag films. The optimum sputtering time of Ag thin films was found to be 20 s for the high optical transmittance with good electrical conductivity. The ZnO / Ag (20 s )/ ZnO layer, which has high optical transmittance of 73% at 550 nm, shows sheet resistance as low as 6.7 ohm/sq. These multilayer transparent films had low electrical resistance as the widely used transparent conductive oxide electrodes. SEM, XRD, the UV-Vis-NIR and Hall Effect measurement system were used to characterize properties of fabricated films. The reasons for the change of transmittance and resistance will also be interpreted.