Fluorine, chlorine, and gallium co-doped zinc oxide transparent conductive films fabricated using the sol-gel spin method

Transparent conductive films (TCFs) are crucial components of solar cells. In this study, F, Cl, and Ga co-doped ZnO (FCGZO) TCFs were deposited onto a glass substrate using the sol-gel spin-coating method and rapid thermal annealing. The effects of F-doping content on the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of FCGZO films were examined by XRD, TEM, FE-SEM, PL spectroscopy, XPS, Hall effects testing, and UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy. All prepared ZnO films exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially grew along the c axis perpendicular to the substrate. Changes in the doping concentration of F changed the interplanar crystal spacing and O vacancies in the film. At a doping ratio of 2% (in mole), the F, Cl, and Ga co-doped ZnO film exhibited the best photoelectric performance, with a carrier concentration of 2.62 × 1020 cm−3, mobility of 14.56 cm2/(V·s), and resistivity of 1.64 × 10−3 Ω·cm. The average transmittance (AT) in the 380–1 600 nm region nearly 90% with air as the reference, and the optical band gap was 3.52 eV.