Highly transparent and conducting Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films are prepared via sol-gel method with a broad range of nominal Al-doping. The film porosity and morphology is determined by the rate of temperature ramping during the drying of the gel phase. The minimum resistivity is observed to occur around Al-doped films, irrespective of the morphology and microstructure. It is found by local chemical analysis that Al tends to segregate at the grain boundaries and above a critical concentration, the segregated Al starts to dominate the electronic transport in nanocrystalline AZO. The optical measurements corroborate these findings showing a systematic increase in carrier density only up to Al-doping. It is concluded that the presence of the resistivity minimum is not merely determined by a solubility limit but is a result of the interplay between the changing carrier concentration and carrier scattering at the segregated Al.
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15 November 2010
Research Article|
November 30 2010
Electrical resistivity of nanocrystalline Al-doped zinc oxide films as a function of Al content and the degree of its segregation at the grain boundaries
B. Nasr;
B. Nasr
a)
Institute of Nanotechnology,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
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S. Dasgupta;
S. Dasgupta
Institute of Nanotechnology,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
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D. Wang;
D. Wang
Institute of Nanotechnology,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
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N. Mechau;
N. Mechau
Institute of Nanotechnology,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
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R. Kruk;
R. Kruk
Institute of Nanotechnology,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
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H. Hahn
H. Hahn
Institute of Nanotechnology,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
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a)
Electronic mail: [email protected].
J. Appl. Phys. 108, 103721 (2010)
Article history
Received:
August 25 2010
Accepted:
October 01 2010
Citation
B. Nasr, S. Dasgupta, D. Wang, N. Mechau, R. Kruk, H. Hahn; Electrical resistivity of nanocrystalline Al-doped zinc oxide films as a function of Al content and the degree of its segregation at the grain boundaries. J. Appl. Phys. 15 November 2010; 108 (10): 103721. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3511346
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