Effects of substrate temperature on properties of surface textured ATO/Ag thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

AbstractThe antimony doped SnO2 (ATO) and Ag bilayer thin films are prepared on glass substrate using magnetron sputtering. The substrate temperature has a significant influence on the film microstructure, surface morphology and electro-optical characteristics. The surface morphologies of ATO/Ag are modified by changing the substrate temperature to improve the light scattering properties. At higher substrate temperatures (≧400°C), the root mean square (RMS) roughness is above 40 nm, which contributes to the significant enhancement of light scattering of ATO/Ag. When the substrate temperature is 500°C, the scattering capability of thin films, haze factor, is above 95%. Meanwhile, the resistivity of this sample is 1·22×10−4 Ω cm, low enough to be applied as back electrode of thin film solar cells.