Transparent and conductive Ga-doped ZnO films grown by RF magnetron sputtering on polycarbonate substrates

Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films have been prepared on polycarbonate (PC) substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The dependence of the properties of films on the sputtering pressures and the oxygen partial pressure was investigated. The resistivity is very sensitive to the oxygen partial pressure, which increases about 106 times for an increase in oxygen partial pressure ratio of 4.8%. The resistivity decreased with the sputtering pressure decreasing, reaching 7.8×10−4 Ω cm at 0.14 Pa. The average transmittance in the visible region of all the films was as high as 80%. The good transparency-conducting property and the room-temperature deposition on polymeric substrates enable GZO films to be widely used in flexible optoelectronic devices such as thin film solar cells.