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Surface texture of pulse-magnetron-sputtered ZnO:Al films by using a diluted NH4Cl aqueous solution

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Abstract

This paper mainly addresses the effects of the NH4Cl concentration and etching time on the surface texture of <103>-oriented ZnO:Al films deposited by using direct-current pulse-magnetron reactive sputtering. A mechanism for the etching of the ZnO:Al films by NH4Cl is also proposed. The best surface texture was observed the same as it was etched for 15 min by using a 3.0 wt.% NH4Cl solution. The average reflectivity at wavelengths from 300 nm to 800 nm was sharply reduced to 4.607%. The etching with NH4Cl is closely related to the preferential <103> orientation rather than the usual preferential <002>orientation. The increased number of defects around the boundary is responsible for the surface texture and the blueshift of the absorption edge of the films.

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Correspondence to Xiao-Yong Gao.

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Chen, C., Liang, Y. & Gao, XY. Surface texture of pulse-magnetron-sputtered ZnO:Al films by using a diluted NH4Cl aqueous solution. Journal of the Korean Physical Society 66, 1569–1574 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.66.1569

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.66.1569

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