Effect of annealing temperature and annealing atmosphere on the structure and optical properties of ZnO thin films on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrates by magnetron sputtering

ZnO thin films were epitaxially grown on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. ZnO thin films were then annealed at different temperatures in air and in various atmospheres at 800 °C, respectively. The effect of the annealing temperature and annealing atmosphere on the structure and optical properties of ZnO thin films are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL). A strong (0 0 2) diffraction peak of all ZnO thin films shows a polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure and high preferential c-axis orientation. XRD and AFM results reveal that the better structural quality, relatively smaller tensile stress, smooth, uniform of ZnO thin films were obtained when annealed at 800 °C in N₂. Room temperature PL spectrum can be divided into the UV emission and the Visible broad band emission. The UV emission can be attributed to the near band edge emission (NBE) and the Visible broad band emission can be ascribed to the deep level emissions (DLE). By analyzing our experimental results, we recommend that the deep-level emission correspond to oxygen vacancy (V_O) and interstitial oxygen (O_i). The biggest ratio of the PL intensity of UV emission to that of visible emission (I_NBE/I_DLE) is observed from ZnO thin films annealed at 800 °C in N₂. Therefore, we suggest that annealing temperature of 800 °C and annealing atmosphere of N₂ are the most suitable annealing conditions for obtaining high quality ZnO thin films with good luminescence performance.     

Effect of excimer laser annealing on the properties of ZnO thin film prepared by sol-gel method

Pristine ZnO thin films have been deposited with zinc acetate [Zn(CH₃COO)₂], mono-ethanolamine (stabilizer), and isopropanol solutions by sol-gel method. After deposition, pristine ZnO thin films have been irradiated by excimer laser (λ = 248, KrF) source with energy density of 50 mJ/cm² for 30 sec. The effect of excimer laser annealing on the optical and structural properties of ZnO thin films are investigated by photoluminescence and field emission scanning electron microscope. As-grown ZnO thin films show a huge peak of visible region and a wide full width at half maximum (FWHM) of UV region due to low quality with amorphous ZnO thin films. After KrF excimer laser annealing, ZnO thin films show intense near-band-edge (NBE) emission and weak deep-level emission. The optically improved pristine ZnO thin films have demonstrated that excimer laser annealing is novel treatment process at room temperature.     

Preparation and characterization of multi-functional CoFe2O4-ZnO nanocomposites

Multi-functional magnetic, photoluminescent and photocatalytic CoFe₂O₄-ZnO nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by a collosol method. The average diameter of the prepared CoFe₂O₄-ZnO nanocomposites was 30±5 nm, and a diffusion layer was formed to link CoFe₂O₄ and ZnO. The saturation magnetization of the CoFe₂O₄-ZnO nanocomposites was 8.99 emu/g. Generation of ZnO from Zn(OH)₂ collosol was nearly complete after thermal decomposition at about 380 °C. A photoluminescence emission peak was observed at 443 nm when excitated at 350 nm. Degradation of methyl orange is performed by CoFe₂O₄-ZnO nanocomposites under ultraviolet radiation, with a degradation rate of up to 93.9%.     

Photoluminescence study of pure and Li-doped ZnO thin films grown by sol-gel technique

The effect of annealing atmosphere, temperature and aging on the photoluminescence of pure and Li-doped ZnO thin films has been investigated. Annealing the pure ZnO in N₂ and He above 800 °C results in green emission centered at ca. 500 nm; however annealing in air red-shifts the green emission to 527 nm. The visible emission of the Li-doped ZnO is found to be largely dependent on the annealing atmosphere. Warm-white photoluminescence with a broad emission band covering nearly the whole visible spectrum is obtained for the Li-doped ZnO films annealed in helium. The substitutional and interstitial extrinsic point defects created by lithium doping may mediate the relative concentration of the intrinsic defects and thereby tune the intrinsic-defect-related visible emission. The enhanced intensity ratio of near-band-edge ultraviolet emission to deep-level visible emission with aging time may be ascribed to both in-diffusion of oxygen from air and self-diffusion of oxygen interstitials to heal the oxygen vacancies during the aging process.     

制备工艺对Zn1-xMgxO薄膜结构及光学性能的影响

采用脉冲激光沉积（PLD）方法在单晶Si（100）衬底上沿c轴方向生长单晶Zn_1-xMg_xO薄膜,通过X射线衍射（XRD）、原子力显微镜（AFM）、扫描电镜（SEM）和荧光光谱（PL）研究了膜厚、Mg含量、退火温度及氧气氛等制备工艺对Zn_1-xMg_xO薄膜的结构、形貌和光学性质的影响.实验结果表明,Mg含量x≤0.15时, Zn_{关键词： 1-x}Mg_xO薄膜')" href="#">Zn_1-xMg_xO薄膜 制备工艺 结构 光学性质     

Structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO thin films synthesized by the citrate precursor route

Nanocrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been deposited by spin-coating polymeric precursors synthesized by the citrate precursor route using ethylene glycol and citric acid as chelating agents. The ZnO thin films were annealed in air at different temperatures for 10 min. The films were characterized by different structural and optical techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical transmission spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL). The thermal decomposition of polymeric precursor was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). XRD analysis with grazing incidence and rocking curves indicate that the ZnO films are polycrystalline with preferential orientation along the c-axis direction with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.31° for 600 °C-annealed samples. On annealing, the texturing in films increased along with a decrease in FWHM. AFM micrographs illustrate that the ZnO films are crack-free with well-dispersed homogeneous and uniformly distributed spherical morphology. The synthesized ZnO thin films have transparency >85% in the visible region exhibiting band edge at 375 nm, which becomes sharper with anneal. Room temperature PL spectra of these films show strong ultraviolet (UV) emission around 392 nm with an increase in intensity with annealing temperature, attributed to grain growth. Deconvolution of the PL spectra reveals that there is coupling of free excitons with higher orders of longitudinal optical (LO) phonon replicas leading to a broad asymmetric near-band-edge peak.     

Controlled visible photoluminescence of ZnO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

ZnO thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The photoluminescence dependence on the growth ambient and annealing temperatures and the atmosphere has been studied. Visible photoluminescence with blue, green, orange, and red emission bands has been demonstrated by controlling the preparation conditions. Complete suppression of the visible emission bands was also realized by annealing the O₂-ambient-grown samples in N₂ atmosphere at higher temperatures, which indicated the preparation of ZnO thin films with high optical quality.     

原位氧化Zn3N2制备p型ZnO薄膜的性能研究

采用射频反应溅射法在玻璃衬底上制备Zn₃N₂薄膜，然后向真空室中通入纯氧气进行热氧化制备ZnO薄膜.利用X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜、霍尔效应测量、透射光谱和光致发光光谱等表征技术，研究了氧化温度和氧化时间对ZnO薄膜的结晶质量、电学性质和光学性能的影响.研究结果显示，450 ℃ 下氧化2 h后的样品中除含有ZnO外，还有Zn₃N₂成分，500 ℃下氧化2 h可以制备出电阻率为0.7 Ωcm，空穴载流子浓度为10^{关键词： p型ZnO薄膜 3N₂薄膜')" href="#">Zn₃N₂薄膜 射频溅射 原位氧化}     

Controlling the orientation of ZnO nanorod arrays using TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> thin film templates dip-coated by sol–gel

The oriented ZnO nanorod arrays have been synthesized on a silicon wafer that coated with TiO₂ films by aqueous chemical method. The morphologies, phase structure and the photoluminescence (PL) properties of the as-obtained product were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and PL spectrum. The nanorods were about 100 nm in diameter and more than 1 μm in length, which possessed wurtzite structure with a c axis growth direction. The room-temperature PL measurement of the nanorod arrays showed strong ultraviolet emission. The effect of the crystal structure and the thickness of TiO₂ films on the morphologies of ZnO nanostructures were investigated. It was found that the rutile TiO₂ films were appropriate to the oriented growth of ZnO nanorod arrays in comparison with anatase TiO₂ films. Moreover, flakelike ZnO nanostructures were obtained with increasing the thickness of anatase TiO₂ films.     

Correlation between microstructure and optical properties of nano-crystalline TiO2 thin films prepared by sol-gel dip coating

Titanium dioxide thin films have been prepared from tetrabutyl-orthotitanate solution and methanol as a solvent by sol-gel dip coating technique. TiO₂ thin films prepared using a sol-gel process have been analyzed for different annealing temperatures. Structural properties in terms of crystal structure were investigated by Raman spectroscopy. The surface morphology and composition of the films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The optical transmittance and reflectance spectra of TiO₂ thin films deposited on silicon substrate were also determined. Spectroscopic ellipsometry study was used to determine the annealing temperature effect on the optical properties and the optical gap of the TiO₂ thin films. The results show that the TiO₂ thin films crystallize in anatase phase between 400 and 800 °C, and into the anatase-rutile phase at 1000 °C, and further into the rutile phase at 1200 °C. We have found that the films consist of titanium dioxide nano-crystals. The AFM surface morphology results indicate that the particle size increases from 5 to 41 nm by increasing the annealing temperature. The TiO₂ thin films have high transparency in the visible range. For annealing temperatures between 1000 and 1400 °C, the transmittance of the films was reduced significantly in the wavelength range of 300-800 nm due to the change of crystallite phase and composition in the films. We have demonstrated as well the decrease of the optical band gap with the increase of the annealing temperature.     

Sputter deposition of high transparent TiO2−xNx/TiO2/ZnO layers on glass for development of photocatalytic self-cleaning application

In this study, TiO_2−xN_x/TiO₂ double layers thin film was deposited on ZnO (80 nm thickness)/soda-lime glass substrate by a dc reactive magnetron sputtering. The TiO₂ film was deposited under different total gas pressures of 1 Pa, 2 Pa, and 4 Pa with constant oxygen flow rate of 0.8 sccm. Then, the deposition was continued with various nitrogen flow rates of 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 sccm in constant total gas pressure of 4 Pa. Post annealing was performed on as-deposited films at various annealing temperatures of 400, 500, and 600 °C in air atmosphere to achieve films crystallinity. The structure and morphology of deposited films were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The chemical composition of top layer doped by nitrogen was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Photocatalytic activity of samples was measured by degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye. The optical transmittance of the multilayer film was also measured using ultraviolet-visible light (UV-vis) spectrophotometer. The results showed that by nitrogen doping of a fraction (∼1/5) of TiO₂ film thickness, the optical transmittance of TiO_2−xN_x/TiO₂ film was compared with TiO₂ thin film. Deposited films showed also good photocatalytic and hydrophilicity activity at visible light.     

非掺杂ZnO薄膜中紫外与绿色发光中心

用直流反应溅射方法在硅衬底上淀积了ZnO薄膜,测量它们的光致发光(PL)光谱,观察到两个发光峰,峰值能量分别为3.18(紫外峰,UV)和2.38eV(绿峰).样品用不同温度分别在氧气、氮气和空气中热处理后,测量了PL光谱中绿峰和紫外峰强度随热处理温度和气氛的变化,同时比较了用FP-LMT方法计算的ZnO中几种本征缺陷的能级位置.根据实验和能级计算的结果,推测出ZnO薄膜中的紫外峰与ZnO带边激子跃迁有关,而绿色发光主要来源于导带底到氧错位缺陷(O_Zn)能级的跃迁,而不是通常认为的氧空 关键词： ZnO薄膜 热处理 光致发光光谱 缺陷能级     

Fabrication and properties of ZnO:Cu and ZnO:Ag thin films

Thin films of ZnS and ZnO:Cu were grown by an original metal–organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) method under atmospheric pressure onto glass substrates. Pulse photo-assisted rapid thermal annealing of ZnO:Cu films in ambient air and at the temperature of 700–800 C was used instead of the common long-duration annealing in a vacuum furnace. ZnO:Ag thin films were prepared by oxidation and Ag doping of ZnS films. At first a closed space sublimation technique was used for Ag doping of ZnO films. The oxidation and Ag doping were carried out by a new non-vacuum method at a temperature >500 C. Crystal quality and optical properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and photoluminescence (PL). It was found that the doped films have a higher degree of crystallinity than undoped films. The spectra of as-deposited ZnO:Cu films contained the bands typical for copper, i.e. the green band and the yellow band. After pulse annealing at high temperature the 410 and 435 nm photoluminescent peaks were observed. This allows changing of the emission colour from blue to white. Flat-top ZnO:Ag films were obtained with the surface roughness of 7 nm. These samples show a strong ultraviolet (UV) emission at room temperature. The 385 nm photoluminescent peak obtained is assigned to the exciton–exciton emission.     

Structural and photoluminescence characteristics of ZnO films by room temperature sputtering and rapid thermal annealing process

ZnO thin films deposited on SiO₂/Si substrates at room temperature by sputtering technology were annealed with a rapid thermal annealing process at various temperatures from 200 °C to 900 °C. The physical and optical properties of the ZnO films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and room-temperature photoluminescence (PL). The surface structures of the thin films showed great variations with increased annealing temperature. The PL spectrum illustrated that a stronger UV emission intensity appeared at an annealing temperature of 500 °C. On the other hand, visible-light emission could be obtained when the ZnO films were annealed above 500 °C and reached a maximum intensity at 900 °C. The possible mechanisms for visible-light emission are discussed. PACS 81.15.Cd; 81.40.Ef; 78.55.-m; 78.55.Et     

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 1×10¹⁷ ions/cm² 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 \sim 850℃ and \sim 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℃.     

Reduction of dislocation density and improvement of optical quality in ZnO layers by MgO-buffer annealing

Optical properties of ZnO thin films with/without MgO-buffer annealing were investigated by low and room temperature photoluminescence measurements. The ZnO films were grown on c-sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy employing a thin MgO-buffer layer. Dislocation density of ZnO layer was reduced from 5.3 × 10⁹ to 1.9 × 10⁹ cm⁻² by annealing MgO-buffer prior to the growth of ZnO. The intensity of free exciton emission from the sample with MgO-buffer annealing was almost twice of that from the sample without annealing, while the deep level emission from the sample with MgO-buffer annealing was about 1/3 of that without annealing. The MgO-buffer annealing improves optical quality of overgrown ZnO films.     

Ti缓冲层及退火处理对Si(111)基片上生长的ZnO薄膜结构和发光特性的影响

采用反应磁控溅射法在Si（111）基片上制备了带有Ti缓冲层的高c轴取向ZnO薄膜.通过X射线衍射分析和光致荧光光谱测量,研究了Ti缓冲层厚度和退火处理对ZnO薄膜结晶质量和光致荧光特性的影响.研究结果表明,Ti缓冲层的引入可以有效改善Si基片上ZnO薄膜的发光性能,但缓冲层存在一个最佳的厚度.薄膜应力是影响ZnO薄膜紫外荧光发射性能的重要因素,较小的残余应力对ZnO薄膜的紫外荧光发射是有利的,残余应力的存在可以改变ZnO薄膜紫外荧光发射能量.随着退火温度的增加,薄膜中的张应力增大,导致带隙宽度减小以及激子复合跃迁峰逐渐向低能方向移动. 关键词： ZnO薄膜 缓冲层 退火处理 应力分析     

Modified thermal evaporation process using GeO2 for growing ZnO structures

In the current work, zinc oxide (ZnO) nano/microstructures are synthesized using a modified thermal-evaporation process by introducing germanium oxide (GeO₂) powder mixed with metallic Zn powder as the raw material. Without the use of any catalyst and oxygen flow in the furnace system, GeO₂ is utilized to provide an oxygen source for the growth of ZnO structure. The samples are treated by different temperatures ranging from 500 to 900 °C. Morphology, phase structure, and photoluminescence properties are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer. The structures and morphologies of the samples were found to vary with growth temperature. The XRD diffraction peaks show that the films grown at temperature from 600 to 800 °C consist of hexagonal wurtzite ZnO structures. Room-temperature PL measurement revealed ZnO spectra representing two bands: near-band-edge emission in the ultraviolet (UV) region and broad deep-level emission centered at about 500 nm. The strong UV emission in the PL spectra indicates that the GeO₂ supplies sufficient oxygen for formation of ZnO structures with few oxygen vacancies. The growth mechanism and the roles of GeO₂ for formation of ZnO structures are discussed in detail.     

Photoluminescence observations of hydrogen incorporation and outdiffusion in ZnO thin films

ZnO thin films were deposited with the addition of H₂ to the reaction gas using the atmospheric-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition method. The incorporation and outdiffusion of hydrogen in ZnO films were investigated by comparing the intensity of the hydrogen-related bound-exciton peak (I₄: 3.363 eV) in the photoluminescence spectrum. The intensity of I₄ peak was found to be the strongest in the ZnO film deposited at 680 °C with H₂ present. However, for the ZnO films prepared at the same temperature 680 °C but without H₂ present and at the higher temperature of 900 °C with H₂ present, respectively, the I₄ peak was just a minor shoulder of another bound-exciton peak (I₈: 3.359 eV). The intensity of I₄ peak in the ZnO films deposited with H₂ present was found to decrease with the increasing of annealing temperature. These results suggest that it is difficult for hydrogen to incorporate into ZnO thin films grown at high temperatures even in the hydrogen-present ambient.     

镁含量和热处理对Zn1-xMgxO薄膜结构和发光性能的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶工艺在玻璃衬底上制备了Zn_1-xMg_xO(x=0.1,0.2,0.3, 0.4,0.5,0.6,0.7)薄膜.X射线衍射谱(XRD)测试结果发现,在 0.1<x<0.3 范围内,薄膜仍然保持氧化锌六角纤锌矿结构,(002)面衍射峰位向大角度方向移动,超过0.3时出现氧化镁立方相.对镁含量为0.1,0.2,0.3薄膜的光致发光谱研究表明：紫外发光峰随镁含量的增加向短波方向移动.对于Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O薄膜,在5,5.5和6℃/min的升温速率下,升温速率越快结晶程度越好.在相同升温速率下,随着退火温度从500 ℃升高到560 ℃,样品的结晶程度变好,当退火温度达到590 ℃时,结晶质量下降. 关键词： 氧化锌 结构 禁带宽度 光致发光谱