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Defect passivation through quick radiative annealing for high-performance solution-processed Al-doped ZnO TCOs

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Abstract

Solution-processed ZnO-based TCOs generally exhibit greater resistivity and lesser transparency when compared to those processed by vapour-based techniques such as sputtering, PLD or ALD. This is mainly because of defects, lack of preferred orientation, partial segregation of dopants near grain boundaries and sometimes impurities such as partially decomposed precursors. The properties can be improved by improving crystallinity and reducing scattering from grain boundaries and defects, improving mobility. Doping with aluminium increases the carrier concentration; however, it introduces defects that hamper transparency and mobility. Here, we have utilized quick radiative annealed (10 s at 480°C) in 5%H2+Ar atmosphere to achieve resistivity as low as ~ 2 × 10− 3 Ωcm with ~ 94% transparency at 550 nm wavelength for 2% Al-doped ZnO films in spray-deposited thin film. The fast radiative annealing improved the mobility of all the films while simultaneously increasing the carrier concentration by as much as 10 times. XRD and SEM showed improved orientation and crystallinity on quick radiative annealing. PL and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the hydrogen passivated the defects (Zni and VO) and grain boundaries resulting in improved mobility and transparency. XPS and UV visible spectroscopy revealed activation of greater amounts of Al dopants, at the same time, passivating VO by partial H+ substitution, increased carrier concentration and wider optical bandgaps.

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Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the DST-SERB, New Delhi, for the financial support through grant sanction no. ECR/2016/000854. The authors would also like to thank S Jit and Abhinav Kumar of the Department of Electronics Engineering, IIT BHU, Varanasi, for helping with the Hall probe and spectroscopy measurements. The authors thank P. C. Pandey for giving access and DST-FIST for funding the UV–Vis spectrophotometer measurement system in the Department of Physics, IIT (BHU), Varanasi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ceramic Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, 221005, India

    Anurag Kumar & Md. Imteyaz Ahmad

  2. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

    Deepak Kumar Gorai

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  1. Anurag Kumar
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  2. Deepak Kumar Gorai
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  3. Md. Imteyaz Ahmad
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Contributions

AK and MIA conceived and designed the experiments. AK synthesized and characterized the samples. IA and MIA analyzed the results. DKG did Raman spectroscopy and PL measurement. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Md. Imteyaz Ahmad.

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Kumar, A., Gorai, D.K. & Ahmad, M.I. Defect passivation through quick radiative annealing for high-performance solution-processed Al-doped ZnO TCOs. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 426 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-09867-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-09867-w

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