Structural characteristics of ZnMnO grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

ZnMnO thin films with different concentration of Mn were deposited onto Si substrates by Laser Ablation technique. The structural and optical characteristics of the films were analyzed as function of the grown conditions (oxygen pressure, Mn concentration and substrate temperature). The crystalline structure of the samples was investigated using X-ray diffraction technique. The diffraction patterns revealed that the ZnMnO thin films were polycrystalline and had a wurtzite hexagonal structure of ZnO without any secondary phases. The film crystallites are preferentially oriented with (002) planes parallel to substrate surface. A lightly shift in peak positions towards lower 2θvalues has been observed, which may be due to the incorporation of Mn ions inside the ZnO crystal lattice. Some important structural parameters (lattice parameters of the hexagonal cell, crystallite size, etc.) of the films were determined.