ZINC OXIDE-BASED TRANSPARENT CONDUCTOR AND SPUTTERING TARGET FOR FORMING THE TRANSPARENT CONDUCTOR

摘要

A zinc oxide-based transparent conductor characterized by comprising zinc oxide as the main ingredient, containing 1-10 at.% element which has a smaller ionic radius than the zinc in the zinc oxide and serves as an n-type dopant for zinc oxide, and containing nitrogen in an amount of 0.3-0.6 in terms of the ratio of the number of nitrogen atoms to that of atoms of the n-type dopant (nitrogen/n-type dopant). In developing a transparent conductor not containing indium, which is an expensive raw material and the resource depletion of which is feared, the limit of the conventional development technique of the single-dopant method is exceeded. A guide to dopant selection as a specific means for realizing the co-doping theory is indicated. A transparent conductor having a low resistivity is provided.