Electrical stability of Al-doped ZnO transparent electrode prepared by sol-gel method

Highlights: • Al-doped ZnO thin film was deposited by sol-gel method in different annealing temperature and duration. • We examined the environmental stability in ambient and damp heat condition. • We investigated chemical state of thin film. • Better stability was observed in the film annealed at high temperature (600 °C) along with longer duration (120 min). • An ultrathin aluminum oxide layer formation was predicted by XPS measurement which protects further oxidation and improves stability. - Abstract: Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been considered as a promising alternative to tin doped indium oxide (ITO), which is currently used in various optoelectronic applications. However, the environmental stability of AZO film is not satisfactory, in that the resistivity is significantly increases in air. Here, we investigate the resistivity stability of AZO thin films prepared by sol-gel method using various annealing temperatures and durations. The degradation of resistivity property was observed for AZO films stored in ambient or damp heat environment, where the degradation rate was influenced by annealing temperature. A significant improvement of electrical stability was attained in AZO films that were prepared at high annealing temperature. The films, which showed the highest and the lowest increasing rate of resistivity, were further characterized in detail to shed light on the possible mechanisms explaining the improved stability through crystallinity, surface morphology and elemental state of the thin film.