Effect of substrate temperature on structural, morphological and optical properties of deposited Al/ZnO films

Al-doped ZnO (Al/ZnO) thin film is a promisingalternative to an ITO electrode in solar cell applicationsdue to its low price, non-toxicity and other promisingproperties. In this paper, Al/ZnO thin films at differentsubstrate temperatures were deposited on glass substratesas transparent conducting (TCO) films by DC magnetronsputtering. The effect of substrate temperature on thestructural, morphological and optical properties of Al/ZnOfilms was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysissuggests that crystal structure characteristics of synthesizedthin films depend on the substrate temperature. The structuregrowth and variation in surface roughness withincreasing substrate temperature are revealed by scanningelectron microscope (SEM) micrographs and atomic forcemicroscopy (AFM) analyses. Thicknesses of the depositedfilms were also examined by surface profiler. Moreover,obtained results from optical transmission patterns revealedthat with the increasing substrate temperature, opticaltransmittance decreases.