Composition, Structure and Electrical Resistivity of ZnO1-x Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering under Various O2/Ar Gas Ratios

• Published in: Key engineering materials 2016-07, Vol.697, p.723-726
• Main Authors: Wang, Qi, Fu, Xiu Li, Wang, Yang, Peng, Zhi Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1013-9826; 1662-9795; 1662-9795
• DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.697.723

ZnO1-x thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on conducting silicon wafers at room temperature with ZnOn (n≤1) target under an atmosphere of O2/Ar ratio varying from 0 to 2.0. The correlation between composition, structure and electrical resistivity of the obtained films was investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the prepared würtzite ZnO1-x films had c-axis preferential growth orientation. When the O2/Ar ratio was lower than 0.5, the main form of defects in the films was oxygen vacancy; when it was 0.5, the composition of the film approached to the stoichiometric ZnO and had the least number of defects; after that, the main type of defects in the films was interstitial zinc. Thus, with increasing O2/Ar ratio, the electrical resistivity of the films increased first and then decreased.