Giant temperature coefficient of resistance in Co-doped ZnO thin films

A novel high-performance thermistor material based on Co-doped ZnO thin films is presented. The films were deposited by the pulsed laser deposition technique on Si (111) single-crystal substrates. The structural and electronic transport properties were correlated as a function of parameters such as substrate temperature and Co-doped content for Zn_1?x Co _x O (x=0.005,0.05,0.10 and 0.15) to prepare these films. The Zn_1?x Co _x O films were deposited at various substrate temperatures between 20 and 280 °C. A value of 20 %/K for the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) with a wide range near room temperature was obtained. It was found that both TCR vs. temperature behavior and TCR value were strongly affected by cobalt doping level and substrate temperature. In addition, a maximal TCR value of over 20 %?K^?1 having a resistivity value of 3.6 Ω?cm was observed in a Zn_0.9Co_0.1O film near 260 °C, which was deposited at 120 °C and shown to be amorphous by X-ray diffraction. The result proved that the optimal Co concentration could help us to achieve giant TCR in Co-doped ZnO films. Meanwhile, the resistivities of the films ranged from 0.4 to 270 Ω?cm. A Co-doped ZnO/Si film is a strong candidate of thermometric materials for non-cooling and high-performance bolometric applications.