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The effect of substrate roughness on the properties of RF sputtered AZO thin film

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2019

Kairi Hamada
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 6068501, Japan
Takaya Ogawa
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 6068501, Japan
Hideyuki Okumura
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 6068501, Japan
Keiichi N. Ishihara*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 6068501, Japan
*
Address all correspondence to Keiichi N. Ishihara at ishihara@energy.kyoto-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) is one of the most promising transparent conductive oxide materials for a front electrode in solar cells. In this work, we roughened substrate surface and sputtered AZO films, where the effect of roughness on various AZO properties was investigated. The haze values were largely enhanced, retaining other important properties such as conductivity and transparency. The optical band gap exhibits a clear blue shift because of the roughness. The possible cause of this shift may be variation in the Al content due to the different deposition and post-annealing mechanisms of AZO films on the roughened surface.

Type
Research Letters
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

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