Influence of the doping and annealing atmosphere on zinc oxide thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis

Undoped and doped (indium and aluminium) zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have b een prepared by spray pyrolysis, and the effect of the doping and annealing atmosphere on the electrical, optical and structural properties of the pro duced films has been investigated. The deposited films have a high resistiv ity. Annealing the films in an argon atmosphere or under vacuum leads to a substantial reduction of the electrical resistivity of the films and to an increase on the degree of cristallinity of the deposited material. The most pronounced changes were observed in the films annealed in Argon. The resul ts also indicate that doping highly influences the electrical and structura l properties of the films: which is more pronounced in the films doped with Indium. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.