Effect of Deposition Temperature on Structural and Electrical Properties of Ga-Doped ZnO for Transparent Electrode of Thin Film Solar Cells
We have investigated the structural and optical properties of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films deposited by RFmagnetron sputtering at various deposition temperatures from 100 to 500oC. All the GZO thin films are grown as a hexagonalwurtzite phase with highly c-axis preferred parameter. The structural and electrical properties are strongly related to depositiontemperature. The grain size increases with the increasing deposition temperature up to 400oC and then decreases at 500oC. Thedependence of grain size on the deposition temperature results from the variation of thermal activation energy. The resistivityof GZO thin film decreases with the increasing deposition temperature up to 300oC and then decreases up to 500oC. GZO thinfilm shows the lowest resistivity of 4.3×10−4Ωcm and highest electron concentration of 1.0×1021cm−3 at 300oC. The mobilityof GZO thin films increases with the increasing deposition temperature up to 400oC and then decreases at 500oC. GZO thinfilm shows the highest resistivity of 14.1cm2/Vs. The transmittance of GZO thin films in the visible range is above 87% atall the deposition temperatures. GZO is a feasible transparent electrode for the application to the transparent electrode of thinfilm solar cells.