Effect of precursor solution and annealing temperature on the physical properties of Sol–Gel-deposited ZnO thin films

Polycrystalline transparent Zinc oxide thin films have been grown on glass substrates by the sol–gel technique using two different precursor solutions. The physical properties of the films were analyzed with X-ray diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy, UV–Vis and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the films grew in the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The band gap of the samples was estimated from UV–Vis measurements in values from 3.1 to 3.22 eV, these values are in agreement with those reported in the literature. Two different simple ways to obtain polycrystalline ZnO were developed and the properties of the films were studied as a function of the precursor solution.