Abstract: | Zinc‐nitrogen (Zn:N) compound thin film was prepared from a pure metallic Zn target by rf magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature under the mixture of nitrogen and argon gases with the ratio of 1:1. High temperature x‐ray diffraction (HTXRD) measurement under vacuum was used to examine the evolution of structural properties of the Zn:N film. At ambient temperature, the (002), (100), and (101) planes corresponding to Zn structure were observed while at higher temperature, the left shifts corresponding to the increase of lattice constants a and c of Zn were observed. At temperatures of 320 °C, 481 °C and 554 °C, the (222), (321) and (400) planes corresponding to Zn3N2 structure were observed with the decrease in the intensity amplitudes of the peaks belonging to the Zn structure. The results indicate the gradual transformation of the Zn3N2 phase in the Zn:N films at temperature greater than 320 °C. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |