High quality transparent conductive hydrogenated AZO with embedded Ag films deposited on PEN flexible substrate

The hydrogenated aluminum-doped zinc oxide (HAZO)/Ag/HAZO (HAH) tri-layer structure transparent conductive films (TCFs) have been deposited on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) flexible substrates via DC magnetron sputtering process and high quality TCFs have been obtained. The effect of Ag interlayer films thickness on crystal structure, electrical conductivity, optical transmittance and mechanical flexibility of HAH tri-layer films was investigated. It is found that the crystallinity of Ag interlayer films increased with the thickness. The results demonstrated that the Ag interlayer thickness was an essential factor for the photoelectric properties of these tri-layer thin films. The optimal tri-layer thin film with 15 nm Ag film exhibited a sheet resistance of 6.37 Ω/sq and an average transmittance of 88.18% in visible region discounting PEN substrate. The bending tests revealed superior flexibility of such multilayer thin films owing to the existence of ductile Ag interlayer films. These tri-layer structure TCFs showed promising potential application for flexible photoelectric devices.