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Effect of thickness on the stability of transparent conducting impurity‐doped ZnO thin films in a high humidity environment
Author(s) -
Minami Tadatsugu,
Miyata Toshihiro,
Ohtani Yuusuke,
Kuboi Takeshi
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.200600009
Subject(s) - electrical resistivity and conductivity , materials science , grain boundary , thin film , scattering , doping , impurity , humidity , relative humidity , composite material , conductivity , mineralogy , analytical chemistry (journal) , optics , optoelectronics , microstructure , nanotechnology , chemistry , electrical engineering , physics , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , engineering , chromatography
The resistivity of transparent conducting Al‐ and Ga‐doped ZnO (AZO and GZO) thin films prepared with a thickness in the range from 20 to 200 nm on glass substrates at a temperature below 200 °C was found to increase with exposure time when tested in a high humidity environment (air at 90% relative humidity and 60 °C). The resistivity stability (resistivity increase) was considerably affected by the thin film thickness. In particular, thin films with a thickness below about 50 nm were very unstable. The increase in resistivity is interpreted as carrier transport being dominated by grain boundary scattering resulting from the trapping of free electrons due to oxygen adsorption on the grain boundary surface. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)