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<p>Transparent conducting indium zinc oxide (IZO) films often suffer from unstable carrier concentration, defect-induced scattering, and limited mobility, which restrict their suitability for high-performance optoelectronic devices. Rare-earth doping is a promising strategy to improve lattice stability and electronic transport; however, the combined effect of Cerium (Ce) and Erbium (Er) co-doping in IZO thin films remains insufficiently explored. This work aims to investigate how Ce–Er co-doping influences the structural, optical, electrical, and surface electronic properties of sputtered IZO films and to identify the optimal dopant configuration for transparent electrode applications. Ce–Er co-doped IZO thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering and systematically characterized. XRD confirmed a highly crystalline cubic bixbyite In₂O₃ phase with preferred (222) orientation. A progressive shift of diffraction peaks toward higher 2θ values and lattice contraction from 10.11 to 9.94 Å indicated substitutional incorporation of Ce³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions. AFM revealed dense, uniform surfaces with RMS roughness of 3.4–4.8&#xa0;nm and grain sizes reaching 65.68&#xa0;nm for the Ce30W–Er30W composition. The films exhibited high optical transparency (&gt; 96%) and a slight bandgap widening from 3.56 to 3.68&#xa0;eV due to the Burstein–Moss effect. Hall measurements confirmed n-type behavior with carrier concentrations up to 2.15 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³, mobility of 27.15&#xa0;cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, and a low resistivity of 1.05 × 10⁻³ Ω·cm. Scanning Kelvin probe analysis further showed an increase in work function from 4.04&#xa0;eV (undoped) to 4.77&#xa0;eV for the most conductive composition. These results demonstrate that moderate Ce–Er co-doping effectively tailors lattice strain, carrier transport, and surface energetics, enabling highly transparent, low-resistivity IZO films suitable for next-generation optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.</p>

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Dopant-induced structural and electronic modifications in Ce–Er Co-doped IZO transparent conductive thin films toward advanced optoelectronics

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月6日

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  • Qasim Ali,
  • Mohsin Khan,
  • Rashid Ali,
  • Shihab Ahammed,
  • Saira Riaz,
  • Shahzad Naseem

摘要

Transparent conducting indium zinc oxide (IZO) films often suffer from unstable carrier concentration, defect-induced scattering, and limited mobility, which restrict their suitability for high-performance optoelectronic devices. Rare-earth doping is a promising strategy to improve lattice stability and electronic transport; however, the combined effect of Cerium (Ce) and Erbium (Er) co-doping in IZO thin films remains insufficiently explored. This work aims to investigate how Ce–Er co-doping influences the structural, optical, electrical, and surface electronic properties of sputtered IZO films and to identify the optimal dopant configuration for transparent electrode applications. Ce–Er co-doped IZO thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering and systematically characterized. XRD confirmed a highly crystalline cubic bixbyite In₂O₃ phase with preferred (222) orientation. A progressive shift of diffraction peaks toward higher 2θ values and lattice contraction from 10.11 to 9.94 Å indicated substitutional incorporation of Ce³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions. AFM revealed dense, uniform surfaces with RMS roughness of 3.4–4.8 nm and grain sizes reaching 65.68 nm for the Ce30W–Er30W composition. The films exhibited high optical transparency (> 96%) and a slight bandgap widening from 3.56 to 3.68 eV due to the Burstein–Moss effect. Hall measurements confirmed n-type behavior with carrier concentrations up to 2.15 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³, mobility of 27.15 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, and a low resistivity of 1.05 × 10⁻³ Ω·cm. Scanning Kelvin probe analysis further showed an increase in work function from 4.04 eV (undoped) to 4.77 eV for the most conductive composition. These results demonstrate that moderate Ce–Er co-doping effectively tailors lattice strain, carrier transport, and surface energetics, enabling highly transparent, low-resistivity IZO films suitable for next-generation optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.