Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Properties of transparent conductive boron-doped ZnO thin films deposited by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering from Zn1−x B x O targets

  • Published:
Applied Physics A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Transparent conducting B-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on normal soda-lime glass substrate by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering from homemade Zn1−x B x O ceramic targets. All the Zn1−x B x O targets are single-phase hexagonal wurtzite structure. After introducing B dopant into ZnO, the targets have a slight c-axis orientation and show more compact than the undoped target. The effect of B doping concentration on the crystallization behaviors, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of the Zn1−x B x O films was systematically investigated. XRD patterns reveal that both the B-doped and undoped films exhibit hexagonal wurtzite structure with strong c-axis orientation. With increasing the B doping concentration, the c-axis orientation and the calculated grain size of the Zn1−x B x O films based on the XRD data decrease. The surface morphologies of the films are very flat, and the transmittance spectra of the films show mean values higher than 90% in the visible range. The B-doped ZnO film with the lowest resistivity of 2.1 × 10−3 Ω cm was achieved by sputtering the Zn0.99B0.01O ceramic target.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. P.F. Carcia, R.S. McLean, G. M.H. Reilly, Nunes Jr., Transparent ZnO thin-film transistor fabricated by rf magnetron sputtering. Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1117 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. K. Ueda, H. Tabata, T. Kawai, Magnetic and electric properties of transition-metal-doped ZnO films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 6128 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  3. M. Purica, E. Budianu, E. Rusu, M. Danila, R. Gavrila, Optical and structural investigation of ZnO thin films prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Thin Solid Films 403, 485–488 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Y. Zhang, Electronegativities of elements in valence states and their applications. 1. Electronegativities of elements in valence states. Inorg. Chem. 21, 3889 (1982)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. C. Marcel, J. Salardenne, Correlations between the thermoelectric power and hall effect of Sn- or Ge-doped In2O3 polycrystalline ceramics. Active Passive Elec. Comp. 19, 217–223 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. S. Jana, A.S. Vuk, A. Mallick, B. Orel, P.K. Biswas, Effect of boron doping on optical properties of sol-gel based nanostructured zinc oxide films on glass. Mater. Res. Bull. 46, 2392–2397 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. J. Escarré, K. Söderström, M. Despeisse, et al., Geometric light trapping for high efficiency thin film silicon solar cells. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 98, 185–190 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. C. Battaglia, J. Escarré, K. Söderström, M. Charriére, M. Despeisse, F.J. Haug, C. Ballif, Nanomoulding of transparent zinc oxide electrodes for efficient light trapping in solar cells. Nat. Photonics 5, 535–538 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. C.Y. Tsay, W.T. Hsu, Sol-gel derived undoped and boron-doped ZnO semiconductor thin films: preparation and characterization. Ceram. Int. 39, 7425–7432 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. B. Houng, C.L. Huang, S.Y. Tsai, Effect of the pH on the growth and properties of sol-gel derived boron-doped ZnO transparent conducting thin film. J. Cryst. Growth 307, 328 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. B. Wen, C.Q. Liu, W.D. Fei, H.L. Wang, S.M. Liu, N. Wang, W.P. Chai, Effect of doped boron on the properties of ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel spin coating. Chem. Res. Chin. Unvi. 30, 509 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. B. Wen, C.Q. Liu, N. Wang, H.L. Wang, S.M. Liu, W.W. Jiang, W.Y. Ding, W.D. Fei, W.P. Chai, Crystallization behavior and properties of B-doped ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel method with different pyrolysis temperatures, Chin. J. Chem. Phys. 29, 229–233 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. F. Paraguay, W. Estrada, D.R. Acosta, E. Andrade, M.M. Yoshida, Growth, structure and optical characterization of high quality ZnO thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis. Thin Solid Films 350, 192 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. X.G. Xu, H.L. Yang, Intrinsic Room Temperature Ferromagnetism in Boron-doped ZnO. Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 232502 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. T. Nakada, Y. Ohkubo, N. Murakami, A. Kunioka, Transparent conducting boron-doped zinc oxide films deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering in B2H6-Ar mixtures. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, 3623–3627 (1995)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. L. Gao, Y. Zhang, J.M. Zhang, K.W. Xu, Boron doped ZnO thin films fabricated by RF-magnetron sputtering. Appl. Surf. Sci. 257, 2498 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. L.H. Wong, Y.S. Lai, Characterization of boron-doped ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with (100−x)ZnO−xB2O3 ceramic targets. Thin Solid Films 583, 205–211 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. B. Wen, C.Q. Liu, N. Wang, H.L. Wang, S.M. Liu, W.W. Jiang, W.Y. Ding, W.D. Fei, W.P. Chai, Properties of boron-doped ZnO thin films deposited by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures. Appl. Phys. A 121, 1147–1153 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. N. Fujimura, T. Nishihara, S. Goto, J. Xua, T. Ito, Control of preferred orientation for ZnO films: control of self-texture. J. Cryst. Growth 130, 269 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. G. Kim, J. Bang, Y. Kim S.K. Rout, S.I. Woo, Structural, electrical and optical properties of boron doped ZnO thin films using LSMCD method at room temperature. Appl. Phys. A 97, 821–828 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. A.D. Trolio, E.M. Bauer, G. Scavia, C. Veroli, Blueshift of optical band gap in c-axis oriented and conducting Al-doped ZnO thin films. J. Appl. Phys. 105, 113109 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. W.D. Fei, C.Q. Liu, M.H. Ding, W.L. Li, L.D. Wang, Characterization of fiber texture by ω-scan X-ray diffraction. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 80, 093903 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. B.J. Lokhande, P.S. Patil, M.D. Uplane, Studies on structural, optical and electrical properties of boron doped zinc oxide films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique. Phys. B 302–303, 59–63 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. K. Ellmer, Resistivity of polycrystalline zinc oxide films: current status and physical limit. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 34, 3097–3108 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. B.N. Pawar, S.R. Jadkar, M.G. Takwale, Deposition and characterization of transparent and conductive sprayed ZnO:B thin films. J. Phys. Chem. Solids 66, 1779–1782 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. J. Steinhauser, S. Faÿ, N. Oliveira, E. Vallat-Sauvain, C. Ballif, Transition between grain boundary and intragrain scattering transport mechanisms in boron-doped zinc oxide thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 142107 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51302024 and 51002018), Program for Liaoning Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. LJQ2012038), Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province, China (Grant Nos. 2015020653, 2015020191 and 2015020182), and Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Physics and Chemistry (Jilin Normal University), Ministry of Education, China (No. 2015005).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Taiyuan Normal University, Yuci, 030619, China

    B. Wen & Y. H. Ren

  2. Engineering Research Center of Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian, 116028, China

    B. Wen, C. Q. Liu, N. Wang, H. L. Wang, S. M. Liu & W. P. Chai

Authors
  1. B. Wen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Q. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. H. L. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S. M. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Y. H. Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. W. P. Chai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to B. Wen or C. Q. Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wen, B., Liu, C.Q., Wang, N. et al. Properties of transparent conductive boron-doped ZnO thin films deposited by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering from Zn1−x B x O targets. Appl. Phys. A 123, 211 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-0847-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-0847-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation