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 ℃.

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.

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.

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℃.

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.

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.

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.

Gap States of ZnO Thin Films by New Methods:Optical Spectroscopy,Optical Conductivity and Optical Dispersion Energy

The optical reflectance and transmittance spectra in the wavelength range of 300-2500 nm are used to compute the absorption coefficient of zinc oxide films annealed at different post-annealing temperatures 400, 500 and 600°C.The values of the cross point between the curves of the real and imaginary parts of the optical conductivity ɑ_1 and ɑ_1 with energy axis of films exhibit values that correspond to optical gaps and are about 3.25-3.3 eV. The maxima of peaks in plots dR/dλ and dT/dλ versus wavelength of films exhibit optical gaps at about 3.12-3.25 eV.The values of the fundamental indirect band gap obtained from the Tauc model are at about 3.14-3.2 eV. It can be seen that films annealed at 600°C have the minimum indirect optical band gap at about 3.15 eV. The films annealed at 600°C have Urbach＇s energy minimum of 1.38 eV and hence have minimum disorder. The dispersion energy d of films annealed at 500°C has the minimum value of 43 eV.

Filter paper-templated preparation of ZnO thin films and examination of their gas-sensing properties

ZnO thin films prepared by using quantitative filter paper as a template and Zn（CH3CO2）2.2H2O ethanol precursor solution were characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The effects of sample calcination temperature, precursor concentration and filter paper types were studied, and the growth process was investigated by infra-red （IR） spectroscopy and thermogravimettic analysis/differential thermal analysis （TGA/DTA）. The results show that samples soaked in a 1.5 mol/L Zn（CH3 CO2）2.2H2O ethanol solution and calcined at 600 ℃ yield ZnO films of uniform particle size, approximately 30, 40 and 50 nm. for fast-, medium- and slow-speed filter papers, respectively. The formaldehyde gas sensing properties of the ZnO nanoparticles were tested, showing that the material prepared from fast-speed filter paper has a higher response to 120-205 ppm formaldehyde at 400 ℃ than that prepared from medium- or slow-sneed paper, which depends on the narticle size.

Effect of Co doping on structural, optical, electrical and thermal properties of nanostructured ZnO thin films

Nanocrystalline Zn1-x CoxO（where x varies from 0 to 0.04 in steps of 0.01） thin films were deposited onto glass substrate by the spray pyrolysis technique at a substrate temperature of 350 ℃. The X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure. The crystal grain size of these films was found to be in the range of 11–36 nm. The scanning electron micrographs show a highly crystalline nanostructure with different morphologies including rope-like morphology for undoped ZnO and nanowalls and semispherical morphology for Co-doped Zn O. The transmittance increases with increasing Co^2＋ doping. The optical absorption edge is observed in the transmittance spectra from 530 to 692 nm, which is due to the Co2C absorption bands corresponding to intraionic d–d^＊ shifts. The direct and indirect optical band gap energies decrease from 3.05 to 2.75 eV and 3.18 to 3.00 eV, respectively for 4 mol% Co doping. The electrical conductivity increases with increasing both the Co doping and temperature, indicating the semiconducting nature of these films. The temperature dependence thermal electromotive force measurement indicates that both undoped and Co-doped ZnO thin films show p-type semiconducting behavior near room temperature. This behavior dies out beyond 313 K and they become n-type semiconductors.

Preparation and optical characteristics of ZnO films by chelating sol-gel method

The effect of different annealing temperatures on the structure, morphology,and optical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by the chelating sol-gel method was investigated.Zinc-oxide thin films were coated on quartz glass substrates by dip coating. Zinc nitrate, absoluteethanol, and citric acid were used as precursor, solvent, and chelating agent, respectively. Theresults show that ZnO films derived from zinc-citrate have lower crystallization temperature (below400℃), and that the crystal structure is wurtzite. The films, treated over 500℃, consist ofnano-particles and show to be porous at 600℃. The particle size of the film increases with theincrease of the annealing temperature. The largest particle size is 60 nm at 600℃. The opticaltransmittances related to the annealing temperatures become 90% higher in the visible range. Thefilm shows a starting absorption at 380 nm, and the optical band-gap of the thin film (fired at500℃) is 3.25 eV and close to the intrinsic band-gap of ZnO (3.2 eV).

Effect of Na Concentrations on Microstructure and Optical Properties of ZnO Films

Na-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on the glass substrates using sol-gel method. The effect of Na concentrations on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films was studied. As Na concentration increases from 0.0 at% to 16.0 at%, preferential c-axis orientation becomes more and more obvious, and the intensity of the diffraction peaks from （103） increases. The optical band gap Eg value increases from 3.261 to 3.286 eV first and then decreases as Na concentration increases from 0.0 to 2.0 at% and then beyond 2.0 at%. The intensity of all the emissions increases with increasing Na concentration and the origins of the violet emission （wavelength in the 400-407 nm） and the blue emission （wavelength at 473 nm） were discussed in detail.

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.

Comparative studies on Zn_(0.95)Co_(0.05)O thin films on C- and R-sapphire substrates

Zn0.95Co0.05O precipitate-free single crystal thin films were synthesized by a dual beam pulsed laser deposition method. The films form a wurtzite structure whose hexagonal axis is perpendicular or parallel to the plane of the surface depending on the C-plane （0001） or R-plane （1120） sapphire substrate. Based on the results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction, C-plane films show larger lattice mismatch. The films exhibit magnetic and semiconductor properties at room temperature. The coercivity of the film is about 8000 A/m at room temperature. They are soft magnetic materials with small remanent squareness S for both crystal orientations. There is no evidence to show that the anisotropy is fixed to the hexagonal axis （C-axis） for the wurtzite structure.

Effect of Zn Sputtering Rate on the Morphological and Optical Properties of ZnO Films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by reactive radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering using a metallic zinc target. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to monitor and control the Zn sputtering rate for the deposition of the ZnO films. Film thicknesses ranged from 350 to 750 nm. Optical transmittances greater than 80% were observed in the wavelength interval from 450 nm to 650 nm. The energy gap of the films remained constant at (3.28 ± 0.01) eV. The surface morphology was found to be homogeneous with well-distributed structures. Surface roughness was dependent on the Zn sputtering rate, indicating that greater densities of Zn atoms increase the surface diffusion. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the ZnO films were polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferential growth along the (002) plane.

Al-Doping Effect on the Surface Morphology of ZnO Films Grown by Reactive RF Magnetron Sputtering

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films were deposited onto glass and silicon substrates by RF magnetron sputtering using a zinc-aluminum target. Both films were deposited at a growth rate of 12.5 nm/min to a thickness of around 750 nm. In the visible region, the films exhibit optical transmittances which are greater than 80%. The optical energy gap of ZnO films increased from 3.28 eV to 3.36 eV upon doping with Al. This increase is related to the increase in carrier density from 5.9 × 1018 cm-3 to 2.6 × 1019 cm-3. The RMS surface roughness of ZnO films grown on glass increased from 14 to 28 nm even with only 0.9% at Al content. XRD analysis revealed that the ZnO films are polycrystalline with preferential growth parallel to the (002) plane, which corresponds to the wurtzite structure of ZnO.

Characteristic modification by inserted metal layer and interface graphene layer in ZnO-based resistive switching structures

ZnO-based resistive switching device Ag/ZnO/TiN, and its modified structure Ag/ZnO/Zn/ZnO/TiN and Ag/graphene/ZnO/TiN, were prepared. The effects of inserted Zn layers in ZnO matrix and an interface graphene layer on resistive switching characteristics were studied. It is found that metal ions, oxygen vacancies, and interface are involved in the RS process. A thin inserted Zn layer can increase the resistance of HRS and enhance the resistance ratio. A graphene interface layer between ZnO layer and top electrode can block the carrier transport and enhance the resistance ratio to several times. The results suggest feasible routes to tailor the resistive switching performance of ZnO-based structure.

Effect of Thickness of SnO_2:F over Layer on Certain Physical Properties of ZnO:Al Thin Films for Opto-electronic Applications

Bilayered FTO/AZO （fluorine doped tin oxide/aluminium doped zinc oxide） films were fabricated using a simple, cost effective spray pyrolysis technique. X-ray diffraction （XRD） profiles of bilayered films showed that in the case of lower thickness FTO over layers, （002） plane of ZnO phase had the highest intensity, whereas the predominance was changed in favour of （200） plane of SnO2 phase for higher thickness FTO over layer. UV studies showed that bilayered FTO/AZO films exhibited a sharp absorption edge as that of AZO film. The decrease in the photoluminescence （PL） peak at 420 nm with increasing FTO over layer thickness indicated a reduction in the zinc vacancies which caused a reduction in the sheet resistance （Rsh）. Electrical studies revealed that, eventhough the Rsh value （916Ω/□） of bilayered FTO （313 nm）/AZO （314 nm） film was found to be higher than that of FTO single layer film （72Ω/□）, it was much lower than that of AZO single layer film （5661Ω/□））. The atomic force microscopy （AFM） images reflect the characteristic features of both zinc oxide and tin oxide films.

Structure,optical and electrical properties of Nb-doped ZnO transparent conductive thin films prepared by co-sputtering method

Nb-doped ZnO thin films were fabricated on glass substrates by using co-sputtering with direct-current and radio frequency magnetron sputtering.The structures,optical and electrical performances of Nb-doped ZnO thin films were investigated.The results showed that all thin films have(002)c-axis preferential orientation.The minimum resistivity of 2.12×10^(-3)Ωcm and the maximum carrier concentration of 2.39×10^(19 )cm^(-3) were obtained at the direct-current sputtering power of 10W,respectively.Nb-doped ZnO thin films have also shown high average transmittance of 89.6%,and lower surface roughness of 2.74 nm.Meanwhile,a distinct absorption edge in the ultraviolet range of 300–400 nm was observed in absorbance,the optical band gap of Nb-doped ZnO thin films illustrates an increased tendency with increasing Nb concentration.