Discovery and optimization of In-Zn-Sn-O based transparent conductors by combinatorial and pulsed laser deposition approaches

There is an expanding interest in the development of new transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) for a host of applications including photovoltaics, flat panel displays, and low-e and electrochromic windows. In this paper, we discuss the application of compositional spread combinatorial techniques for the initial characterization of the ZnO-SnO/sub 2/ TCO tie line. Local maxima in the composition dependence of the conductivity were found for Zn/Sn - 2:1 (Zn/sub 2/SnO/sub 4/) and Zn/Sn - 1:1 (ZnSnO/sub 3/). Interesting compositions were further explored by pulsed laser deposition.