Effects of high-dose Ge ion implantation and post-implantation annealing on ZnO thin films

This paper reports that ion implantation to a dose of 1 ×10^17 ions/cm^2 was performed on c-axis-orientated ZnO thin films deposited on （0001） sapphire substrates by the sol-gel technique. After ion implantation, the as-implanted ZnO films were annealed in argon ambient at different temperatures from 600 - 900 ℃. The effects of ion implantation and post-implantation annealing on the structural and optical properties of the ZnO films were investigated by x-ray diffraction （XRD）, photoluminescence （PL）. It was found that the intensities of （002） peak and near band edge （NBE） exitonic ultraviolet emission increased with increasing annealing temperature from 600- 900 ℃. The defect related deep level emission （DLE） firstly increased with increasing annealing temperature from 600 - 750 ℃, and then decreased quickly with increasing annealing temperature. The recovery of the intensities of NBE and DLE occurs at ～850℃ and ～750℃ respectively. The relative PL intensity ratio of NBE to DLE showed that the quality of ZnO films increased continuously with increasing annealing temperature from 600 - 900 ℃.

Improved Electrochemical Performance of Mg-doped ZnO Thin Film as Anode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries

Zn1-xMgxO （x = 0, 0.18） thin films were fabricated on the copper substrates by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering using the high pure argon as a sputtering gas. The Zn1-xMgxO films were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscope （SEM） and galvanostatic tests. The electrochemical test showed an improved electrochemical performance of Zn0.82EMg0.18O thin film as an anode material for lithium ion batteries.

Angle-sensitive and fast photovoltage of silver nanocluster embeded ZnO thin films induced by 1.064-μm pulsed laser

Silver nanocluster embedded ZnO composite thin film was observed to have an angle-sensitive and fast photovoltaic effect in the angle range from -90° to 90° , its peak value and the polarity varied regularly with the angle of incidence of the 1.064-μm pulsed Nd：YAG laser radiation onto the ZnO surface. Meanwhile, for each photovoltaic signal, its rising time reached -2 ns with an open-circuit photovoltage of -2 ns full width at half-maximum. This angle-sensitive fast photovoltaic effect is expected to put this composite film a candidate for angle-sensitive and fast photodetector.

Induced growth of high quality ZnO thin films by crystallized amorphous ZnO

This paper reports the induced growth of high quality ZnO thin film by crystallized amorphous ZnO. Firstly amorphous ZnO was prepared by solid-state pyrolytic reaction, then by taking crystallized amorphous ZnO as seeds （buffer layer）, ZnO thin films have been grown in diethyene glycol solution of zinc acetate at 80 ℃. X-ray Diffraction curve indicates that the films were preferentially oriented [001] out-of-plane direction of the ZnO. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to evaluate the surface morphology of the ZnO thin film. Photoluminescence spectrum exhibits a strong ultraviolet emission while the visible emission is very weak. The results indicate that high quality ZnO thin film was obtained.

Facile fabrication of heterostructure with p-BiOCl nanoflakes and n-ZnO thin film for UV photodetectors

Herein, high-quality n-ZnO film layer on c-sapphire and well-crystallized tetragonal p-BiOCl nanoflakes on Cu foil are prepared, respectively. According to the absorption spectra, the bandgaps of n-ZnO and p-BiOCl are confirmed as ~3.3 and~3.5 eV, respectively. Subsequently, a p-BiOCl/n-ZnO heterostructural photodetector is constructed after a facile mechanical bonding and post annealing process. At –5 V bias, the photocurrent of the device under 350 nm irradiation is ~800 times higher than that in dark, which indicates its strong UV light response characteristic. However, the on/off ratio of In–ZnO–In photodetector is ~20 and the Cu–BiOCl–Cu photodetector depicts very weak UV light response. The heterostructure device also shows a short decay time of 0.95 s, which is much shorter than those of the devices fabricated from pure ZnO thin film and BiOCl nanoflakes. The p-BiOCl/n-ZnO heterojunction photodetector provides a promising pathway to multifunctional UV photodetectors with fast response, high signal-to-noise ratio, and high selectivity.

Simulation of grain boundary effect on characteristics of ZnO thin film transistor by considering the location and orientation of grain boundary

The grain boundaries （GBs） have a strong effect on the electric properties of ZnO thin film transistors （TFTs）. A novel grain boundary model was developed to analyse the effect. The model was characterized with different angles between the orientation of the grain boundary and the channel direction. The potential barriers formed by the grain boundaries increase with the increase of the grain boundary angle, so the degradation of the transistor characteristics increases. When a grain boundary is close to the drain edge, the potential barrier height reduces, so the electric properties were improved.

The effects of post-thermal annealing on the optical parameters of indium-doped ZnO thin films

Indium-doped ZnO thin films are deposited on quartz glass slides by RF magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature. The as-deposited films are annealed at different temperatures from 400℃ to 800 ℃ in air for 1 h. Transmittance spectra are used to determine the optical parameters and the thicknesses of the films before and after annealing using a nonlinear programming method, and the effects of the annealing temperatures on the optical parameters and the thickness are investigated. The optical band gap is determined from the absorption coefficient. The calculated results show that the film thickness and optical parameters both increase first and then decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 400℃ to 800℃. The band gap of the as-deposited ZnO：In thin film is 3.28 eV, and it decreases to 3.17 eV after annealing at 400℃. Then the band gap increases from 3.17 eV to 3.23 eV with increasing annealing temperature from 400℃ to 800℃.

Structure distortion, optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb by sol-gel spin coating

ZnO thin films co-doped with A1 and Sb with different concentrations and a fixed molar ratio of AlCl3 to SbCl3 at 1：2, are prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating method on glass annealed at 550 ℃ for 2 h in air. The x-ray diffraction results confirm that the ZnO thin films co-doped with Al distortion, and the biaxial stresses are 1.03× 10^8. 3.26× 10^8 and Sb are of wurtzite hexagonal ZnO with a very small 5.23 × 10^8, and 6.97× 10^8 Pa, corresponding to those of the ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb in concentrations of 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0 at% respectively. The optical properties reveal that the ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb have obviously enhanced transmittance in the visible region. The electrical properties show that ZnO thin film co-doped with Al and Sb in a concentration of 1.5 at% has a lowest resistivity of 2.5 Ω·cm.

Structural, Optical and Luminescence Properties of ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Method： Effect of Precursor Concentration

Transparent zinc oxide（ZnO） thin films are fabricated by a simple sol-gel spin-coating technique on glass substrates with different solution concentrations（0.3-1.2 M） using zinc acetate dehydrate [Zn（CH_3COO）_2·2H_2O] as precursor and isopropanol and monoethanolamine（MEA） as solvent and stabilizer, respectively. The molar ratio of zinc acetate dehydrate to MEA is 1.0. X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy are employed to investigate the effect of solution concentration on the structural and optical properties of the ZnO thin films. The obtained results of all thin films are discussed in detail and are compared with other experimental data.

Studies on the Structure of Gel during Preparing ZnO Thin Films by Sol-gel Method

Transparent thin films of ZnO have been prepared on ordinary glass substrates by the inorganic sol-gel method using citric acid as chelating agent and zinc nitrate as the starting material. A novel structure on zinc citrate complex was put forward by using DTA-TG and FT-IR absorbanee spectrum of citrate gels. Phase formation, morphology and optical properties of ZnO films are investigated by XRD, AFM and UV-vis transmittance spectra. The experimental results show that ZnO thin films derived from zinc citrate sol-gel method showed a （002） oriented hexagonal wurtzite structure, good crystalline property, a uniform range of grain size （40 nm）, smooth surface of films, band gap of 3.28 eV and optical transmittances ratio over 90% in the visible range.

Preparation of Nano-Crystalline ZnO Thin Films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were identified as very suitable piezoelectric material for SAW on the basis of its relatively high electromechanical coupling coefficient,as well as high resistivity for low insertion loss and little distortion in the frequency.In this paper ZnO thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrate covered with SiO_2 using a reactive DC magnetic sputtering system from a zinc target.The effects of various deposition parameters on structural and performances have been investigated through experiments.Theoretical and experimental results are also discussed in this paper.XRD showed that the prepared ZnO films had strongly c-axis preferred-orientation.The composition of the film was also determined through high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).AFM showed that the films had smooth surface and that the crystallite sizes of deposited films were in the range 30 nm～50 nm.The above results showed that the films deposited by magnetic sputtering met the demands for surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices.

Engineering of electronic and optical properties of ZnO thin films via Cu doping

ZnO thin films doped with different Cu concentrations are fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering technique. XRD analysis indicates that the crystal quality of the ZnO：Cu film can be enhanced by a moderate level of Cu-doping in the sputtering process. The results of XPS spectra of zinc, oxygen, and copper elements show that Cu-doping has an evident and complicated effect on the chemical state of oxygen, but little effect on those of zinc and copper. Interestingly, further investigation of the optical properties of ZnO：Cu samples shows that the transmittance spectra exhibit both red shift and blue shift with the increase of Cu doping, in contrast to the simple monotonic behavior of the Burstein–Moss effect. Analysis reveals that this is due to the competition between oxygen vacancies and intrinsic and surface states of oxygen in the sample. Our result may suggest an effective way of tuning the bandgap of ZnO samples.

In situ high temperature X-ray diffraction studies of ZnO thin film

An epitaxial ZnO thin film was entirely fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. Both the orientation and the size of the crystallites were studied. The X-ray diffraction （XRD） patterns of the film show strong c-axis oriented crystal structure with preferred （002） orientation. The Phi-sca~ XRD pattern confirms that the epitaxiM ZnO exhibits a single- domain wurtzite structure with hexagonal symmetry. In situ high-temperature XRD studies of ZnO thin film show that the crystallite size increases with increasing temperature, and （002） peaks shift systematically toward lower 20 values due to the change of lattice parameters. The lattice parameters show linear increase in their values with increasing temperature.

Electrical and optical properties of Sb-doped ZnO thin films synthesized by sol–gel method

Sb-doped ZnO thin films with different values of Sb content （from 0 to 1.1 at.%） are deposited by the sol-gel dip- coating method under different sol concentrations. The effects of Sb-doping content, sol concentration, and annealing ambient on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO films are investigated. The results of the X-ray diffraction and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy （UV-VIS） spectrophotometer indicate that each of all the films retains the wurtzite ZnO structure and possesses a preferred orientation along the c axis, with high transmittance （〉 90%） in the visible range. The Hall effect measurements show that the vacuum annealed thin films synthesized in the sol concentration of 0.75 mol/L each have an adjustable n-type electrical conductivity by varying Sb-doping density, and the photoluminescence （PL） spectra revealed that the defect emission （around 450 nm） is predominant. However, the thin films prepared by the sol with a concentration of 0.25 mol/L, despite their poor conductivity, have priority in ultraviolet emission, and the PL peak position shows first a blue-shift and then a red-shift with the increase of the Sb doping content.

Optical, Structural and Morphological Properties of Photocatalytic ZnO Thin Films Deposited by Pray Pyrolysis Technique

Photocatalytic ZnO thin films have been deposited onto glass substrate by spray pyrolysis technique. The sprayed solution consists of 0.1 M of zinc acetate dihydrate dissolved in double distilled water and sprays onto ultrasonically cleaned glass substrates maintained at 350°C, through an air-atomizing nozzle. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX and UV-VIS spectrophotometer were applied to describe the structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of ZnO catalyst. XRD analysis confirms that the films were found to be single phase hexagonal wurtzite structure. The SEM micrograph of the films is shown highly uniform, crack free and found to be fiber like structures. The optical transmittance spectra of the ZnO thin films were found to be transparent to visible light and the average optical transmittance was greater than 85%. The direct optical band gap energy values of the films shift towards the lower energy as a consequence of the thermal annealing. The Urbach energy of the films was found to increase with annealing temperature. The refractive index of the films was calculated and the refractive index dispersion curve of the films obeys the single oscillator model. The values of oscillatory energy Eo, dispersion energy Ed, and static dielectric constant εs for the ZnO thin films were determined. The films were evaluated for their ability to degrade methylene blue. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model was used to interpret quantitatively the observed kinetic experimental result. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO thin films was enhanced by annealing temperature.

Effect of annealing temperature on the microstructure and optoelectrical properties of ZnO thin films and their application in self-powered accelerometers

This paper reports a piezoelectric nanogenerator(NG) with a thickness of approximately 80 μm for miniaturized self-powered acceleration sensors. To deposit the piezoelectric zinc oxide(ZnO) thin film, a magnetron sputtering machine was used. Polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) and aluminum-doped zinc oxide(AZO) were used as the insulating layer and the top electrode of the NG, respectively. The experimental results show that the ZnO thin films annealed at 150℃ exhibited the highest crystallinity among the prepared films and an optical band gap of 3.24 eV. The NG fabricated with an AZO/PMMA/ZnO/stainless steel configuration exhibited a higher output voltage than the device with an AZO/ZnO/PMMA/stainless steel configuration. In addition, the annealing temperature affected the open-circuit voltage of the NGs;the output voltage reached 3.81 V when the annealing temperature was 150℃. The open-circuit voltage of the prepared self-powered accelerometer increased linearly with acceleration. In addition, the small NG-based accelerometer, which exhibited excellent fatigue resistance, can be used for acceleration measurements of small and lightweight devices.

Photoluminescence properties of ZnO thin films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering

ZnO thin films were prepared by direct current(DC)reactive magnetron sputtering under different oxygen partial pressures.And then the samples were annealed in vacuum at 450℃.The effects of the oxygen partial pressures and the treatment of annealing in vacuum on the photoluminescence and the concentration of six intrinsic defects in ZnO thin films such as oxygen vacancy(VO),zinc vacancy(VZn),antisite oxygen(OZn),antisite zinc(ZnO),interstitial oxygen(Oi)and interstitial zinc(Zni)were studied.The results show that a green photoluminescence peak at 520 nm can be observed in all the samples,whose intensity increases with increasing oxygen partial pressure;for the sample annealed in vacuum,the intensity of the green peak increases as well.The green photoluminescence peak observed in ZnO may be attributed to zinc vacancy,which probably originates from transitions between electrons in the conduction band and zinc vacancy levels,or from transitions between electrons in zinc vacancy levels and up valence band.

Synthesis Sol-Gel Derived Highly Transparent ZnO Thin Films for Optoelectronic Applications

In this work, ZnO thin films were derived by sol-gel using two different techniques;dip coating and spin coating technique. The films were deposited onto glass substrate at room temperature using sol-gel composed from zinc acetate dehydrate, monoethanolamine, isopropanole, and de-ionized water, the films were preheated at 225?C for 15 min. The crystallographic structures of ZnO films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD);the result shows that the good film was prepared at dip coating technique, it was polycrystalline and highly c-orientation along (002) plane, the lattice constant ratio (c/a) was calculated at (002), it was about 1.56. The structure of thin films, prepared by spin coating technique, was amorphous with low intensity and wide peaks. The optical properties of the prepared film were studied using UV-VIS spectrophotometer with the range 190 - 850 nm, and by using the fluorescence spectrometer. The optical characterization of ZnO thin films that were prepared by the dip coating method have good transmittance of about 92% in the visible region, it can be noted from the fluorescence spectrometer two broad visible emission bands centered at 380nm and 430 nm. The optical energy gaps for the direct and indirect allowed transitions were calculated, the values were equal 3.2 eV and 3.1 eV respectively. Dip coating technique create ZnO films with potential for application as transparent electrodes in optoelectronic devices such as solar cell.

Effect of Substrates on the Properties of ZnO Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been deposited at 450°C onto glass and silicon substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD). The used source was a KrF excimer laser (248 nm, 25 ns, 5 Hz, 2 J/cm2). The effects of glass and silicon substrates on structural and optical properties of ZnO films have been investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that ZnO films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite—type structure with a strong (103) orientation and have a good crystallinity on monocrystalline Si(100) substrate. The thickness and compositional depth profile were studied by Rutherford Backscattering spectrometry (RBS). The average transmittance of ZnO films deposited on glass substrate in the visible range is 70%.

Physical Properties of Al-doped ZnO and Ga-doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Direct Current Sputtering at Room Temperature

Al-doped zinc oxide（AZO） and Ga-doped zinc oxide（GZO） thin films with the same doping concentration（3.6 at%） were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature by direct current（DC） magnetron sputtering.Consequently,we comparatively studied the doped thin films on the basis of their structural,morphological,electrical,and optical properties for optoelectronic applications.Both thin films exhibited excellent optical properties with more than 85%transmission in the visible range.The GZO thin film had better crystallinity and smoother surface morphology than the AZO thin film.The conductivity of the GZO thin film was improved compared to that of the AZO thin film：the resistivity decreased from 1.01×10^-3 to 3.5×10^-4 Ω cm,which was mostly due to the increase of the carrier concentration from 6.5×10^20 to 1.46×10^21cm^-3.These results revealed that the GZO thin film had higher quality than the AZO thin film with the same doping concentration for optoelectronic applications.