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Effect of solvents and stabilizers on sol–gel deposition of Ga-doped zinc oxide TCO films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2011

Ido Winer ,
Gennady E. Shter ,
Meirav Mann-Lahav  and
Gideon S. Grader
Ido Winer
Affiliation:
Chemical Engineering Department, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
Gennady E. Shter
Affiliation:
Chemical Engineering Department, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
Meirav Mann-Lahav
Affiliation:
Chemical Engineering Department, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
Gideon S. Grader*
Affiliation:
Chemical Engineering Department, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: grader@ce.technion.ac.il
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Abstract

Gallium-doped zinc oxide spin-coated thin films have been prepared by the sol–gel method. The influence of two solvents, isopropanol and 2-methoxyethanol (2-ME), and two chelating agents, monoethanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA), was investigated. X-ray diffraction shows preferential (002) c-axis orientation of the crystallites influenced by the doping content and starting solution composition. Better orientation was obtained with 2-ME as a solvent because of a slower evaporation rate during the spin coating. Better orientation was also obtained using MEA as a stabilizer due to the weaker bonds formed with the Zn2+ ions. Typical film thickness was 550 nm. The transparency of the films was greater than 85% in the entire visible range. A sheet resistance of 68 Ω/□ was obtained for the ZnO film doped with 2 at.% of Ga using 2-ME and MEA as a solvent and stabilizer, respectively. The results show that the denser packing created using a high boiling temperature solvent and a low organic content stabilizer improved the layer’s electrical and optical properties.

Keywords

Sol–gelOxideTransparent conductor
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 10 , 28 May 2011 , pp. 1309 - 1315
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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