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Effect of potential voltages on key functional properties of transparent AZO thin films prepared by electrochemical deposition method for optoelectronic applications

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Abstract

The electrochemical technique has been used to prepare aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films on FTO substrates using zinc nitrate and aluminum chloride precursor solution at 70 °C. The crystal structure, surface morphology, optical and electrical features of AZO films were examined at different potential voltages from −1.7 to −2.3 V in the initial solution. Structural studies of the deposited films were carried out through X-ray diffraction; the AZO films exhibited a polycrystalline nature with hexagonal structure, and crystals preferentially grew along the (002) orientation. The morphology of the deposited films was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the images showed that the spherical- and nanorod-shaped particles are uniformly distributed on the entire AZO film surface. The average size is found to be in the range of 45–70 nm by SEM and 28–32 nm by using the Scherrer’s rule. The EDS spectrum confirmed the chemical composition of Zn, O, Al, Sn, and F elements over the film surface. The optical properties were studied using a UV-visible spectrophotometer, and the deposited film showed the highest optical transmittance of ∼80% in the visible range for −1.7 V. The calculated energy gap of the AZO films decreases from 3.09 to 2.97 eV with increasing potential voltages. AZO thin films have been studied using photoluminescence to identify the film’s optical quality with respect to the wavelength range. The electrical properties were studied by the room temperature Hall effect system, and the observed low resistivity (ρ) is 1.58 × 10−2 (Ω cm) for the film deposited using a −2.1 V potential voltage.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India, for their financial assistance for the work by the project number SB/FTP/PS-131/2013. Mohd. Shkir, V. Ganesh, and S. AlFaify extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through Research Groups Program under Grant No. R.G.P. 2/10/39.

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  1. PG and Research Department of Physics, Arul Anandar College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 625514, India

    Karuppiah Deva Arun Kumar & Santiyagu Valanarasu

  2. Advanced Functional Materials & Optoelectronic Laboratory (AFMOL), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    Vanga Ganesh, Mohd. Shkir, Salem AlFaify & Hamed Algarni

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  1. Karuppiah Deva Arun Kumar
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  2. Santiyagu Valanarasu
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Kumar, K.D.A., Valanarasu, S., Ganesh, V. et al. Effect of potential voltages on key functional properties of transparent AZO thin films prepared by electrochemical deposition method for optoelectronic applications. Journal of Materials Research 33, 1523–1533 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2018.122

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