AZO/Au/AZO multilayer as a transparent conductive electrode

A multilayer of Al doped ZnO/gold/Al doped ZnO (AZO/Au/AZO) was deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD), and its structural, electrical, and optical properties were investigated. The thin Au interlayer was deposited by e‐beam evaporator and showed a series of islands. As the Au interlayer thickness increased, the Au islands coalesced resulting in a continuous Au film at 12 nm or thicker. As the Au interlayer thickness increased to 12 nm, the carrier concentration increased from 1.3 × 1020 to 4.2 × 1021 cm−3, the Hall mobility increased from 13.4 to 22.4 cm2/Vs, and the resistivity decreased from 2.6 × 10−3 to 1.2 × 10−4 Ωcm. However, the transmittance decreased from 80 to 48%. Additionally, the AZO/Au/AZO multilayer was less crystalline than a single AZO layer.