AZO(Aluminium-doped Zinc Oxide)는 기존의 LCD, OLED, 광센서, 유기태양전지 등의 투명전극에 널리 사용되는 ITO(Indium Tin Oxide)를 대체하기 위한 물질로 주목받고 있다. 본 연구에서는 유기태양전지의 투명 전극으로 많이 사용되는 ITO 를 대체하기 위해 원자층 증착(ALD) 공정의 저온 선택적 증착 특성을 이용하여 유연성 폴리머인 PEN 기판상에 AZO 투명전극을 직접 패턴방식으로 제조하고, 그 투명전극의 구조적, 전기적, 광학적 특성을 평가하였다. 전기적, 광학적 특성 결과들로부터 원자층 증작공정의 저온 선택적 증착 특성을 통해 형성된 AZO 투명전극의 유기태양전지로의 적용 가능성을 확인할 수 있었다.
AZO (aluminum-doped zinc oxide) is one of the best candidate materials to replace ITO (indium tin oxide) for TCOs (transparent conductive oxides) used in flat panel displays, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and organic solar cells (OSCs). In the present study, to apply an AZO thin film to the transparent electrode of an organic solar cell, a low-temperature selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) process was adopted to deposit an AZO thin film on a flexible poly-ethylene-naphthalate (PEN) substrate. The reactive gases for the ALD process were di-ethyl-zinc (DEZ) and tri-methyl-aluminum (TMA) as precursors and H2O as an oxidant. The structural, electrical, and optical characteristics of the AZO thin film were evaluated. From the measured results of the electrical and optical characteristics of the AZO thin films deposited on the PEN substrates by ALD, it was shown that the AZO thin film appeared to be comparable to a commercially used ITO thin film, which confirmed the feasibility of AZO as a TCO for flexible organic solar cells in the near future.
