Microstructures and optical properties of Cu-doped ZnO films prepared by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering

- The effect of Cu doping, substrate temperatures and annealing temperatures on the crystallization behavior and optical properties of the films were studied.
- ZnO films show a stronger preferred orientation toward the c-axis and uniform grain size after Cu doping.
- The (0 0 2) orientation of ZnO:Cu film was improved by appropriate substrate temperature.
- Intense blue-green luminescence is obtained from the sample deposited at higher substrate temperature.
- The crystal quality ZnO:Cu film and the intensity of emission were markedly improved after annealing.