Preparation of Ag-based transparent conductive films with high figure-of-merit from dielectric layers' combination.

To improve the photoelectric properties of Ag-based transparent conductive films, TCO/Ag/TCO multilayer films were prepared on K9 glass substrates with the magnetron sputtering. The dielectric TCO (transparent conductive oxide) layer was AZO (Al-doped ZnO, sputtered with or without oxygen) or ITO (Sn-doped In2O3, sputtered with oxygen). The effects of the combination of dielectric layers, and the AZO layer sputtering with or without oxygen were investigated. The results indicated that the crystallization quality of the Ag layer deteriorated and its roughness increased when the AZO layer was sputtered with oxygen, and the photoelectric properties of the multilayer film also notably decreased. Additionally, the film exhibited better photoelectric properties when the type of TCO on the top was different from that on the bottom. Among them, the crystallization quality of Ag layer was the best when the multilayer film was structured as ITO/Ag/AZO (sputtered without oxygen). This film exhibited a visible average transmittance of 82.36%, a sheet resistance of 9.11 Ω/sq, and a Figure-of-Merit (FOM) as high as 15.75 mΩ−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]