Influence of substrate temperature and post-deposition annealing on material properties of Ga-doped ZnO prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Ga-doped ZnO films were prepared at 10 mTorr of oxygen over a broad temperature range using pulsed laser deposition. The carrier concentration of as-deposited films decreased monotonically with deposition temperature over a temperature range of 25°C to 450°C. Post-deposition annealing of as-deposited films in forming gas (5% H ₂ in argon) or vacuum resulted in a substantial increase in both carrier concentration and electron mobility. The figure of merit was highest for films deposited at 250°C then annealed in forming gas at 400°C. The optical transmittance was near 90% throughout the visible and near-infrared spectral regions. These results indicate that Ga-doped ZnO is a viable alternative to transparent indium-based conductive oxides.