Fabrication and characteristics of the low-resistive p-type ZnO thin films by DC reactive magnetron sputtering

ZnO thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering using pure zinc disk as sputtering target and Ar-N-2-O-2 mixture as sputtering gas. The influence of N-2-to-O-2 ratio as well as annealing treatment on the structural and electrical characteristics of the films was studied. By optimizing the N-to-O-2 ratio, low-resistive p-type ZnO thin films were obtained. The film prepared at N-2-to-O-2 ratio of 20:10 and annealed at 450 degrees C for 3 h has the lowest resistivity (8.34 Omega cm) and the highest hole concentration (7.47 x 10(18) cm(-3)). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.