LAUSR

Abstract Highly transparent and conducting Zn1-xRuxO films have been developed via mercaptopurine modified sol-gel spin coating approach as an efficient alternative for indium tin oxide electrodes. The crystalline structure and surface topography of the Zn1-xRuxO films have been explored by X-ray diffraction and SEM. The optical spectroscopy was monitored by ellipsometry. The data was fitted by Forouhi- Bloomer model and harmonic oscillator model. The increase of Ru amount in ZnO causes a decrease of the optical bandgap achieving the lowest value at 1 wt% of Ru dopant. The free carriers’ concentration for this film reached to 1021 cm−3. The Zn0.99Ru0.01O film showed high transparency exceeds 95% and outstanding resistivity of 10−5 Ω cm along the whole visible spectrum region. These unique characteristics may open the road for developing novel, cost-effective and highly transparent and conducting metal oxide electrodes for the future of optoelectronic applications.