Oxygen effect on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

Abstract

ZnO thin films with wurtzite structure have been grown on Si (100) and glass substrates using radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The ZnO thin films have been characterised by XRD. The (002) orientation is observed at zero Oxygen flow after the (100) developed with increasing oxygen ratio. Usually, this orientation (100) is difficult to obtain. The thickness of ZnO films was confirmed by cross-section SEM, and their stoichiometry was measured by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The optical band gaps have been determined using UV spectra and found to be varied from 3.24 to 3.29 eV as a function of the oxygen ratio. Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed more defects at higher oxygen flow. The crystalline quality of the deposited film degrades with oxygen enhancements.