Single Crystalline Transparent Conducting F, Al, and Ga Co-Doped ZnO Thin Films with High Photoelectrical Performance

Transparent conductive film (TCF) is a material that integrates electrical conductivity and optical transparency. It is widely used as an electrode material in thin-film solar cells. However, considerable progress is needed to facilitate its high performance and low-cost preparation. In this study, a preparation scheme for AlF₃ and GaF₃ co-doped ZnO (FAGZO) thin films was designed and implemented by magnetron sputtering (MS). The mutual restraint between the electrical properties and the wide-spectrum transmission performance of ZnO films was resolved. First-principles calculations showed that the doped ZnO system had n-type conductivity and that the most stable structure was the F_O-Al_Zn-Ga_Zn system. The experimental results verified the theoretical predictions. Single crystalline ZnO transparent conducting films (ZnO-TCFs) of high quality were achieved by MS. After rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment, the mobility reached 49.6 cm²/V s, and the resistivity decreased to 3.82 × 10^-4 Ω cm. The AT was 90% between 380 and 1200 nm. Furthermore, the application of the prepared FAGZO film in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been verified. Compared to the reference indium tin oxide film, the PSCs using the FAGZO film showed higher J_SC and power conversion efficiency. These results demonstrate that MS combined with anion and cation co-doping provides an effective means of exploring high-quality and high-performance ZnO-TCFs.