Production of doped/ undoped ZnO transparent conductive oxide thin film by hydrothermal method

In this study, undoped and W-doped ZnO nanostructures (NSs) are synthesized on glass substrates by hydrothermal method. The effects of the temperature (75-125oC) employed during the synthesis and the W-doping on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of the NSs are examined. Raman spectra suggests that three clear phonon modes exist at around ~100, 330, and 435 cm−1 respectively and asymmetry ratio is sensitive to both the temperature and W-dopant. In the visible region, the NSs grown at 100oC exhibit an average transmittance of 85.73%, which is relatively higher, among others. It is interesting to note that W-doping into ZnO results in a substantial decrease in sheet resistance. Combining a modest transmittance in the visible region, W-doped ZnO NSs can serve as a promising transparent conducting oxide (TCO)film and demonstrates a good balance of the tradeoff between transmittance and sheet resistance, which leads to a remarkable enhancement in the figure of merit (FOM).