Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of ZnO/Nb/ZnO Multilayer Thin Films

Abstract

ZnO multilayers and pure ZnO thin films were deposited onto glass using a sputtering system, and were subsequently characterized by X-ray diffractometry and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The resistivity of the samples was measured by the four-probe method. All films exhibited preferential orientation along the c-axis and the peak position (002) shifted to a lower position, indicating a reduction in the unit cell size. The pure ZnO thin film exhibited a maximum transmittance of approximately 98%, which decreased as the Nb layer increased, thus increasing the absorbance of the multilayer thin films. The energy band gap decreased as the thickness of the metal increased which higher value was 3.18 eV. The resistivity had a minimum of 0.1 × 10-4 Ω m.