Deposition and characterization of ZnO films using microplasma at atmospheric pressure

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films were deposited on room-temperature Si(100) by microwave-induced microplasma at one atmosphere. The precursor used in this work was zinc acetylacetonate hydrate (Zn(acac)2.xH2O) sublimed at 54 °C into flowing helium. The deposition rate was estimated to be 400 nm/min. The films were visually transparent and FTIR spectroscopy confirms the presence of the Zn-O stretching vibration at 410 cm− 1. Raman spectroscopy reveals that the films have the 437 cm− 1 Raman band typical of a wurtzite crystal structure. Cross sectional scanning electron microscopy shows columnar growth with individual column widths of approximately 0.5 μm. Scale-up using arrays of microplasmas is considered.