Corrosion resistance analysis of aluminium-doped zinc oxide layers deposited by pulsed magnetron sputtering

In this paper an exhaustive analysis is performed on the electrochemical corrosion resistance of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) layers deposited on silicon wafers by a DC pulsed magnetron sputtering deposition technique to test layer durability. Pulse frequency of the sputtering source was varied and a detailed study of the electrochemical corrosion response of samples in the presence of a corrosive chloride media (NaCl 0.06M) was carried out. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed after reaching a stable value of the open circuit at 2h, 192h and 480h intervals. Correlation of the corrosion resistance properties with the morphology, and the optical and electrical properties was tested. AZO layers with transmission values higher than 84% and resistivity of 6.54×10−4Ωcm for a deposition process pressure of 3×10−1Pa, a sputtering power of 2kW, a pulse frequency of 100kHz, with optimum corrosion resistance properties, were obtained.