Polycrystalline undoped and Al-doped ZnO thin
films were deposited by spray pyrolysis using oxygen and argon
atmospheres. The influence of postdeposition vacuum annealing
on the structure, morphology and optical properties was studied
by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and UV–VIS
spectroscopy. The thermal vacuum annealing induces structural
and morphological changes, especially in Al-doped ZnO thin
films synthetized in oxygen atmosphere. Further on, the
electrical conductivity in dependence of the nature of gas
atmosphere and Al concentration is discussed.
