Optical properties of Al-doped with zinc oxide (AZO) thin films with PLD technique

Abstract

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was used to deposit aluminum (Al)-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films with various Al ratios onto glass substrates. Ultraviolet (UV) -visible spectroscope was used to study the impact of Al doping on the physical properties of ZnO. Aluminum was doped into ZnO at 0, 6, and 12% concentrations successfully. The transmittance of the AZO films in the UV region is high, typically of 80% than that of ZnO films. AZO films’ optical band gap (3.02-2.76 eV) was below that obtained in undoped ZnO films (3.37 eV). The ZnO thin films' reflectance (R) and refractive-index (n) were high in the UV region, but gradually diminished between 300 and 400 nm. The extinction coefficient decreased as the amount of Al increased in the ZnO thin films. The method used for the experiment and study findings is presented and fully discussed. The values were calculated and measured in comparison to previously published data.