Epitaxial growth of zinc oxide thin films on silicon

Epitaxial zinc oxide thin films were grown on Si(1 1 1) using aluminum nitride and magnesium oxide/titanium nitride buffer layers. The resultant films were examined using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, electrical conductivity, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The following epitaxial relationships were observed in the ZnO/AlN/Si(1 1 1) heterostructure: ZnO[0 0 0 1] || AlN[0 0 0 1] || Si[1 1 1] along the growth direction, and ZnO[21¯1¯0] || AlN[21¯1¯0] || Si[011¯] along the in-plane direction. Domain-matching epitaxial growth of TiN on Si(1 1 1) substrate allows successful epitaxial growth of MgO and ZnO layers in a ZnO/MgO/TiN/Si(1 1 1) heterostructure. The epitaxial relationships observed for this heterostructure were ZnO[0 0 0 1] || MgO/TiN/Si[1 1 1] along the growth direction and ZnO[21¯1¯0] || MgO/TiN/Si[011¯] along in-plane direction. The resultant ZnO films demonstrate excellent electrical and optical properties. ZnO thin films exhibit extremely bright ultraviolet luminescence with relatively weak green-band emission.