| AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Electronic Materials and Processing | Thursday Sessions |
| Session EM-ThP |
| Session: | Electronic Materials and Processing Poster Session |
| Presenter: | S.T. King, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse |
| Authors: | S.T. King, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse L. Bilke, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse B. Oleson, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse J. Krueger, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse E. Tennyson, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
ZnO and its alloys have shown much promise to replace ITO as the transparent conducting layer in many electrical devices. However, ZnO typically does not exhibit a low enough resistivity for such applications. Beyond doping ZnO, much work has focused on developing heterostructures in which ZnO is layered with a metal on the nanometer scale [1]. A recent study has suggested that bilayers of ZnO and Cu exhibit properties which may allow such laminate materials to be employed in photovoltaic applications [2]. However, it is apparent that these Cu interlayers will oxidize over time resulting in the formation of CuO interlayers. Therefore, the properties of ZnO/CuO laminates must be understood to determine the effects of interlayer oxidation on these materials.
The current study has employed x-ray diffraction, spectroscopic ellipsometry, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and four-point resistivity measurements to examine the effects that CuO interlayer thickness has on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO/CuO nanolaminate films deposited by reactive DC sputter deposition. Results suggest that CuO interlayers may afford similar transmittance and resistivity results as Cu interlayers thus alleviating possible difficulties incurred from interlayer oxidation in nanolaminate materials.
[1] J.S. Cho, S. Baek, and J.C. Lee; SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS, 95, 7, 1852-1858 (2011)
[2] J.G. Lu, X. Bie, Y.P. Wang, L. Gong, and Z.Z. Ye; JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A, 29, 3, 03A115 (2011)