Optical and mechanical properties of ZnO-Ag films deposited by thermal evaporation

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a well-known semiconductor material having very interesting physical properties that place it among the most promising materials in different fields; such as optics, photovoltaics, electronics, and gas-detection. ZnO is a transparent conducting oxide that has a natural conductivity and a high transparency in the visible. In this work, we report the deposition ZnO-Ag thin films by thermal evaporation followed by heat treatment. A mixture of ZnO and pure (Ag) w as evaporated under vacuum on glass substrate. The deposited thin films were then annealed at 300 and 500 °C. Ag to increase the conductivity of maintaining the highest possible characterization of the deposited films was added in order ZnO films while transparency. The was carried out by XRD, SEM, Raman and spectrophotometry. The effect of Ag addition to ZnO on mechanical, optical and electrical properties of ZnO is discussed.