Aerosol Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition of Transparent Conductive Zinc Oxide Films

Highly conductive and transparent ZnO films were synthesized by the reaction of diethyl zinc (in toluene) with methanol by dual source aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition. These films displayed a stable sheet resistance of 7.2 Omega/square and high transmission across the visible region comparable to commercial transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) based on oxides of tin or indium. Doping the zinc oxide structure with fluorine (trifluorotoluene) resulted in dense compact films with improved electrical properties than ZnO films with a sheet resistance of 4.5 Omega/square. These films also displayed idealized surface texturing for photovoltaic applications. Fluorine concentration was 2 at.% determined by wavelength dispersive X-ray analysis (WDX). Aluminum doped zinc oxide films were also synthesized by introducing dopant amounts of trimethylaluminium solution (in toluene) into the system. These films exhibited low sheet resistances of 14 /Omega square. The aluminum concentration in the films was 4 at.% determined by WDX.