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Effect of chlorine on the conductivity of ZnO:Ga thin films

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Abstract

An extensive study of the effect of various technological factors on the electrical properties of ZnO thin films obtained by DC magnetron sputtering of ZnO:Ga:Cl ceramic targets on glass substrates has been carried out. The effect of deposition temperature, film thickness, growth rate, background pressure, working gas pressure, preliminary slow-growing and undoped layers, stoichiometric deviation, and Ga and Cl concentrations has been studied. Changes in the growth rate, transparency in the ultraviolet and visible spectral ranges, morphology, crystallinity, and crystallite size have also been analyzed. It has been shown that the effect of co-doping with Cl is most significant at the lowest temperatures, which can decrease the resistivity of the films by 2 times at a deposition temperature of 100 °C. Zinc oxide thin films with a resistivity of 2.5 × 10− 4 Ω⋅cm and a figure of merit of 31 kΩ− 1 have been successfully obtained. A theoretical model taking into account various types of mobile gallium chlorides has been proposed to elucidate the advantage of co-doping with Cl.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. N. Kostrikova for XRD measurements.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Research of Moldova under project No. 20.80009.5007.16 (Photosensitizers for applications in pharmaceutical medicine and photovoltaics)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moldova State University, str. A. Mateevici 60, MD-2009, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

    G. V. Colibaba & D. Rusnac

  2. Institute of Applied Physics, MD-2028, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

    G. V. Colibaba & D. Rusnac

  3. Institute of Electronic Engineering and Nanotechnologies, MD-2028, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

    V. Fedorov

  4. Technical University of Moldova, MD-2004, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

    E. I. Monaico

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  1. G. V. Colibaba
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Correspondence to G. V. Colibaba.

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Colibaba, G.V., Rusnac, D., Fedorov, V. et al. Effect of chlorine on the conductivity of ZnO:Ga thin films. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 18291–18303 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06371-x

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