The effect of Cu/Mo bi-layer film on the structural, morphological and electro-optical characteristics of AZO/metal/AZO transparent conductive film

In this paper, AZO/Mo, AZO/Mo/AZO and AZO/Cu/Mo/AZO multi-layer films were prepared on soda-lime glass and Si(100) substrate by magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The effect of Mo and Cu layer thickness on the structural, morphological and electro-optical properties of the multilayer films was discussed. The film with inserted 6 nm and 9 nm Mo layer achieved the best factor of merit for AZO/Mo and AZO/Mo/AZO structure respectively. The optoelectronic properties of multi-layer films were significantly improved by introducing a thin Cu layer at the interface between Mo and AZO films. The low sheet resistance of 45 Ω/sq and a transmittance of 78% were obtained by AZO (50 nm)/Cu(3 nm)/Mo (6 nm)/AZO (50 nm) structure. The result shows thin Cu layer may improve the optoelectronic properties of AZO/Mo/AZO film, which making it more suitable for application in optoelectronic device.