Origin of swift heavy ion induced stress in textured ZnO thin films: An in situ X-ray diffraction study

Swift heavy ion induced stress in a pulsed laser deposited textured ZnO thin film is reported. In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements are carried out during ion irradiation at incremented fluences under 120 MeV Ag+9 ions. The average grain size, lattice constant ‘cc’, and stress in the film are calculated from the diffraction pattern. The nature of the stress is intrinsic and the origin can be attributed to the strong density of defects like dislocations at the grain boundaries as evidenced by micro-Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Atomic Force microscopic (AFM) studies.