Preparation of AZO films with highly preferred orientation by two-step method

First, the surface of ordinary glass slides was laid with seed layer through a preprocessing step of hydrothermal growth. Then, homogenous and dense thin films were obtained through a sol-gel method. The AZO films exhibited a preferred orientation of c-axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. XRD, FESEM, UV-VIS and Hall tests were used to characterize chemical components, microstructure, optical and electrical properties of AZO films. The impacts of seed layer on the microstructure, morphology, transmittance and electrical properties of thin films were investigated. The experiment results showed that the seed layers reduced the amorphous component of the thin film at the time of initial growth and promoted the crystallization of the film. The average transmittance of the film in the visible range of are more than 85% and the conductive performance is also improved via the two-step growth process.