Abstract High visible light transparency and conductivity of ZnO enable the use of its material as transparent conducting films, in which point defects are vitally important for determining its optoelectronic properties. Herein, Indium doped ZnO thin films (ZnO:In) were prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Thermal evolution of point defects and their effects on the microstructure and photoelectric properties of ZnO:In transparent conducting films were systematically investigated. The results show that thermal annealing induces the dissociation of extensive zinc interstitial clusters, causing their concentration gradually decreasing with increasing annealing temperature. Furthermore, when annealing at low temperature (≤ 500°C), the concentration of oxygen vacancy and zinc vacancy defects also decreases with increasing temperature. However, after annealing at higher temperature (600 and 700°C), additional vacancy defects are generated due to the evaporation of zinc and oxygen atoms from the film surface. It is demonstrated that the evolution of point defects caused by thermal annealing directly affects the microstructure and photoelectric properties of ZnO:In transparent conducting films.

中文翻译：

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铟掺杂氧化锌透明导电膜中点缺陷的热演化

摘要 ZnO 的高可见光透明度和导电性使其能够用作透明导电膜，其中点缺陷对其光电性能至关重要。在此，通过射频磁控溅射技术制备了铟掺杂的 ZnO 薄膜 (ZnO:In)。系统地研究了点缺陷的热演化及其对 ZnO:In 透明导电膜的微观结构和光电性能的影响。结果表明，热退火引起广泛的锌间隙簇的解离，导致它们的浓度随着退火温度的升高而逐渐降低。此外，在低温（≤ 500°C）下退火时，氧空位和锌空位缺陷的浓度也随着温度的升高而降低。然而，在较高温度（600 和 700°C）下退火后，由于锌和氧原子从薄膜表面蒸发，会产生额外的空位缺陷。结果表明，由热退火引起的点缺陷的演变直接影响 ZnO:In 透明导电薄膜的微观结构和光电性能。