Deposition and characterization of transparent and conductive sprayed ZnO:B thin films

Highly transparent and conductive Boron doped zinc oxide (ZnO:B) thin films were deposited using chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) technique on glass substrate. The effect of variation of boron doping concentration in reducing solution on film properties was investigated. Low angle X-ray analysis showed that the films were polycrystalline fitting well with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and have preferred orientation in [002] direction. The films with resistivity 2.54×10⁻³ Ω-cm and optical transmittance >90% were obtained at optimized boron doping concentration. The optical band gap of ZnO:B films was found ∼3.27 eV from the optical transmittance spectra for the as-deposited films. Due to their excellent optical and electrical properties, ZnO:B films are promising contender for their potential use as transparent window layer and electrodes in solar cells.