Annealing treatment of ZnO thin films prepared by non-reactive E-beam evaporation technique

Abstract

In this research, Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by the electron beam evaporation technique at various substrate temperatures. As-deposited films show high crystallinity at 250 °C. X-ray diffraction, Hall-Effect measurement and optical spectroscopy on annealed films reveal that ZnO films exhibit stable physical properties up to an annealing temperature of 200 °C with a little improvement in crystallinity. By increasing the annealing temperature, crystallinity deteriorates and electrical resistivity enhances. The same result has been observed for two-stage annealing, although both X-ray intensity and Hall mobility enhance. As-deposited films demonstrate high visible transparency that preserves after post-deposition heat-treatment.