Fabrication of high infrared reflective Al-doped ZnO thin films through electropulsing treatment for solar control

In this study, Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were finished by low-energy consumed electropulsing treatment (EPT) in a short time. The EPT effect on the resulting AZO films was investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Hall Effect measurement, UV-visible transmittance spectra, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. As compared with the other EPT-treated AZO films, the prepared AZO films corresponding to 4.5 min EPT exhibited higher degree of crystallization, higher visible transmittance with blue shift, smoother surface, lower electrical resistivity of 9.03 × 10-4Ω cm, and higher infrared reflection rate of 80-85%. By the 4.5 min of EPT, the electrical conductivity of the resulting AZO thin film was increased by approximately 82.3%. Moreover, it was also found that prolonged EPT would degrade the film properties. These results indicate that the fast and low-energy consumed EPT might be a promising substitution for traditional heat annealing, and the prepared high infrared reflective AZO films make them promising candidates for being applied as solar control films.