Electron Irradiation Effects on the Optical and Electrical Properties of ZnO/Ag/SnO2 Thin Films

Transparent conductive ZnO 50 nm/Ag 10 nm/SnO2 50 nm (ZAS) tri-layer films were deposited on glass substrates by magnetron sputtering, and then the surface was subjected to intense electron beam irradiation to investigate the effects of electron irradiation on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films. After deposition, the ZAS thin films were electron-irradiated for 10 minutes, with varying electron incident energies of 300, 600, and 900 eV. The films that were electron irradiated at 900 eV showed higher optical transmittance of 83.6% in the visible wavelength region, and lower resistivity, of 4.75 × 10-5 Ωcm, than the other films. From the observed electrical properties and optical band gap, it was concluded that the optical band gap increased with the incident electron energy up to 600 eV. The optical band gap increased from 4.12 to 4.23 eV, with carrier density increasing from 7.09 to 8.55 × 1021 cm−3. However, the film electron irradiated at 900 eV showed a decrease in optical band gap energy of 4.16 eV due to the decreased carrier density of 8.25 × 1021 cm−3. The figure of merit revealed that the ZAS thin films electron-irradiated at 900 eV had higher optical and electrical performance than the other films prepared in this study.