Thermal Stability of Hydrogen Doped AZO Thin Films Prepared by r.f. Magnetron Sputtering

Aluminum and hydrogen doped zinc oxide (AZHO) films were prepared by r.f. magnetron sputtering. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the AHZO films were investigated in terms of the annealing conditions to study the thermal stability. The XRD measurements revealed that the degree of c-axis orientation was decreased and the crystallintiy of the films was deteriorated by the heat treatment. The electrical resistivity was significantly increased when the films were annealed at higher temperature. Although the optical transmittance of AHZO films didn't highly changed by heat treatment, the optical band gap was reduced, regardless of annealing temperature and duration. The thermal stability of AHZO films was worse compared to AZO films.