Abstract: The Al -doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were deposited by DC -RF coupled magnetron sputtering system on glass substrates at room temperature. The RF sputtering power increased from 0 to 200W. The structure, surface morphology, optical and electrical properties of the AZO films were investigated by using X -ray diffractometer, scanning electronic microscope, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer and hall effect test system as a function of different RF sputtering power, respectively. The results indicate that AZO thin films with excellent performance can be prepared by DC-RF coupled magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Meanwhile, the RF sputtering power has a significant impact on the optical and electrical properties of the AZO thin films. With the increase of RF sputtering power, the compactness of AZO films and the grains size were increased, the surface morphology and growth form of the AZO films change greatly. Under RF sputtering power of 200W, the lowest resistivity of the AZO film is  5.39×10 ^-4 Ω·cm. The average optical transmittance of the AZO film prepared at room temperature is approximately 82.6% in the visible wavelength.

Key words: AZO film, DC-RF coupled, surface morphology, optical property, electrical property