Properties of AZO films grown by ALD applied as a TCO layer in perovskite solar cells

In recent years, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) has attracted much attention due to its high transmittance and low resistivity, which makes it an excellent candidate for various applications in photovoltaic field, photoelectric, and transparent electronic devices. However, producing an AZO film with a desirable electronic property is still a challenge. In this work, we demonstrate that AZO can be successfully deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The results showed that it is possible to dope ZnO with aluminum through the ALD technique using multiple layers composed of ZnO and Al₂O₃. Films with transmittance above 80%, optical band gap between 3.3 and 3.8 eV and promising electronic properties were obtained for use as a transparent conductive layer in large-area perovskite solar cells.