Helicon‐wave‐excited plasma sputtering deposition of Ga‐doped ZnO transparent conducting films

Sputtering deposition of Ga‐doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) thin films was carried out using the helicon‐wave‐excited plasma sputtering (HWPS) method. The films sputtered above 150 °C had a preferential {0001} orientation. According to the surface‐damage‐free nature, the films having featureless surface morphology exhibited an optical transmittance greater than 80% in the visible spectral wavelengths. However, because the deposition temperature was limited to 250 °C, the electron mobility was limited to as low as 2–3 cm2/V s due to the small grain size (∼25 nm). The results indicate that ZnO:Ga films deposited by HWPS can be used in the transparent conducting oxide layer, provided that higher electron mobility is achieved. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)