Low substrate temperature fabrication of high-performance metal oxide thin-film by magnetron sputtering with target self-heating

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films with high transmittance and low resistivity were achieved on low temperature substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering using a high temperature target. By investigating the effect of target temperature (TG) on electrical and optical properties, the origin of electrical conduction is verified as the effect of the high TG, which enhances crystal quality that provides higher mobility of electrons as well as more effective activation for the Al dopants. The optical bandgap increases from 3.30 eV for insulating ZnO to 3.77 eV for conducting AZO grown at high TG, and is associated with conduction-band filling up to 1.13 eV due to the Burstein–Moss effect.