Extremely transparent and conductive ZnO:Al thin films prepared by photo-assisted metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (photo-MOCVD) using AlCl3(6H(2)O) as new doping material

Extremely transparent and conductive ZnO:Al thin films were successfully prepared by a photo-assisted metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (photo-MOCVD) technique at a temperature of 140 degrees C using diethylzine and H2O as source materials. The vapor from an aqueous solution of aluminum chloride hydrate (AlCl3(6H(2)O)) was used as a doping gas. ZnO:Al thin films with a minimum resistivity of 6.22 x 10(-4) Omega cm were obtained. Their total transmittance at 550 nm was 91%. Moreover, the average transmittance in the wavelength region of 400 nm to 1200 nm was over 91%. The new Al-doping method using AlC1(3)(6H(2)O) by the photo-MOCVD, proposed for the first time in this study, is economical as well as safe, and high-quality ZnO:Al can be successfully applied to a transparent conductive electrode for large area thin-film solar cells.