Precipitation of Al­doped­ZnO(AZO) ceramic targets and determination of its resistance properties

AZO(Al­doped ZnO) target materials were prepared by two­step sintering techniques. The AZO ceramic targets were characterized with XRD, SEM and EDS. And the resistance properties of AZO targets were analyzed. The results show that the second phase ZnAl2O4 is detected when Al2O3 doping concentration is 0.5% (mass fraction). ZnAl2O4 diffraction peaks are enhanced and the grain sizes of AZO target are reduced with increasing the doping concentrations. With increasing the second­sintering temperature θnd, the grain sizes of AZO targets and the relative density increase. The electrical resistivity reduces with increasing the second­sintering temperature θnd, while increases with increasing the doping concentration. The electrical resistivity is 2.9×10 −2 Ω∙cm at the frist­sintering temperature of 1 400 ℃, the heating rate of 10 ℃/min, the second­sintering of 1 350 ℃ and holding time of 16h.