Surface statistical properties of ZnO thin films produced by magnetron sputtering at different rates

Nano layers of zinc, which were deposited by magnetron sputtering on Si (100) substrate, thermal oxidation exposed to the air at 400 °C, were employed to produce ZnO thin films. In order to study the influence of the deposition rate on surface morphology, samples with different deposition rates (1.2–4.5 nm/s) were produced. The surface characteristics of these ZnO thin films are then evaluated against data which result from Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The results demonstrate that the film deposited with higher rates has higher surface roughness and grain size. The fractal analysis illustrates that the roughness exponents (αα) for all samples are close.