Deposition and characterization of transparent thin films of zinc oxide doped with Bi and Sb

Undoped and Bi/Sb doped highly transparent ZnO films were grown adopting metal organic chemical vapor deposition with suitable combinations of Zn(C5F6HO2)(2).2H(2)O.(CH3OCH2-CH2)(2)O, Bi(C6H5)(3), and Sb(C6H5)(3) precursors. Hexagonal ZnO phases were always found. Doping levels ranged from 1.4 to 7.4 and from 0.2 to1.8 atomic % for Bi and Sb, respectively. UV-vis measurements indicated that the film transmittance was usually as high as 90% in the visible and near-infrared region. Dopant surface segregation was found in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy experiments. Preliminary resistivity measurements indicated that lightly doped ZnO films are semiconducting while greater doping levels could result in potential varistor properties.