A Study on the Properties of AZO Films Surface-annealed by RF Magnetron Sputtering and Electron Beam Radiation

Transparent and conductive AZO films were deposited on the glass by using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering with intense electron radiation, simultaneously. After deposition, the effect of electron radiation energy on the optical and electrical properties of AZO was investigated. In XRD measurements, the films irradiated with intense electron beam show the larger grain size than that of the films prepared without electron radiation. Sheet resistance was also dependent on the electron radiation energy, while the optical transmittance in visible wavelength region was not affected seriously by electron radiation. X-.ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and four point probes were used to observe the crystallization, optical transmittance and sheet resistance, respectively.