UV-assisted growth of transparent conducting layers based on zinc oxide

A comparative study of the microstructure and optical and electrical characteristics of gallium-doped ZnO films synthesized by magnetron sputtering with and without assistance to the growth process by UV radiation has been carried out. It was found that the UV assistance to the growth process of ZnO-based transparent conducting layers improves their electrical characteristics because of the formation of additional donor centers and the lower carrier scattering at grain boundaries, without any strong inf luence on the layer morphology and on the average optical transmittance in the visible spectral range.