High figure-of-merit p-type transparent conductor, Cu alloyed ZnS via radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Journal Article · 23 November 2017 · Journal of Physics. D, Applied Physics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aa95b3 · OSTI ID:1476574

Maurya, Sandeep Kumar  ^[1]; Liu, Ya ^[2]; Xu, Xiaojie ^[3]; Woods-Robinson, Rachel ^[4]; Das, Chandan  ^[5]; Ager, III, Joel W.  ^[6]; Balasubramaniam, K. R.  ^[5]

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1. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai (India); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Xi'an Jiaotong Univ., Shaanxi (People's Republic of China)
3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Fudan Univ., Shanghai (People's Republic of China)
4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
5. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai (India)
6. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

p-type transparent conducting Cu alloyed ZnS thin films from Cu$$_{{x}}$$ Zn$$_{{1-x}}$$ S targets ($x = 0.1$ , 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) were deposited on glass substrates via radio frequency sputtering. x-ray diffraction and TEM–SAED analysis show that all the films have sphalerite ZnS as the majority crystalline phase. In addition, films with 30% and 40% Cu show the presence of increasing amounts of crystalline Cu2S phase. Conductivity values ≥400 S $${\rm cm}^{-1}$$ were obtained for the films having 30% and 40% Cu, with the maximum conductivity of 752 S $${\rm cm}^{-1}$$ obtained for the film with 40% Cu. Temperature dependent electrical transport measurements indicate metallic as well as degenerate hole conductivity in the deposited films. The reflection-corrected transmittance of this Cu alloyed ZnS (40% Cu) film was determined to be ≥75% at 550 nm. In conclusion, the transparent conductor figure of merit ($$\Phi_{{\rm TC}}$$ ) of the Cu alloyed ZnS (40% Cu), calculated with the average value of transmittance between 1.5 to 2.5 eV, was ≈276 $$\mu{\rm S}$$ .

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1476574
• Journal Information: Journal of Physics. D, Applied Physics, Vol. 50, Issue 50; Related Information: © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.; ISSN 0022-3727
• Publisher: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English