Conductive and transparent ZnO : Al thin films obtained by chemical spray

Electrical, structural, morphological and optical characteristics of ZnO:Al thin films obtained by chemical spray are presented in this paper. The dep endence of the resistivity on the substrate temperature and the film thickn ess is reported. For the optimized conditions with no post-annealing the lo west resistivity values obtained for ZnO:Al thin films were 3 X 10(-3) and 1.4 X 10(-2)omega cm for films with thicknesses of 1500 and 600 nm, respect ively. Preferential growth in the (0 0 2) direction was observed in all cas es. The surface morphology was analyzed by using atomic force and scanning electron microscopy (AFM and SEM) techniques. High transmittance, 85%, was obtained in all cases. The band gap was of the order of 3.35 eV.