Influence of growth temperature on the optical and structural properties of ultrathin ZnO films

This study investigates the effect of growth temperature on the optical and structural properties of ultrathin ZnO films on the polished Si substrate. Thickness of the ultrathin ZnO films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) method was about 10 nm. Photoluminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques were used to measure the properties of ultrathin ZnO films. Experimental results showed that the ultrathin ZnO film deposited at 200 °C had excellent ultraviolet emission intensity, and the average roughness of the film surface was about 0.26 nm.

► Ultrathin ZnO film of 10 nm is deposited on a polished Si substrate using atomic layer deposition process without post-annealing. ► Ultrathin ZnO film exhibits excellent ultraviolet emission intensity. ► Surface of the ZnO film deposited at 200 °C is very smooth and the average surface roughness is 0.26 nm.