Zinc oxide sintered body, and production and application thereof.

摘要

A sintered zinc oxide film having a good uniformity is formed by sputtering wherein a zinc oxide sintered body having a (002) crystal orientation larger than the (101) crystal orientation and a density of at least 4.5 g/cm<3> is used as a target. The zinc oxide sintered body preferably contains an element having a positive valency of at least 3 and has a resistivity of not larger than 1 ohm.cm. The zinc oxide sintered body is prepared by neutralizing an aqueous sulfuric acid solution of zinc with ammonia, calcining the thus-formed precipitate, and sintering the calcined precipitate at a temperature of at least 1,300 DEG C. An oxide or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of the above element may be incorporated in the zinc solution; or an oxide of the above element may be incorporated in the calcined precipitate. <IMAGE>