Electrodepositing ZnxMnyOz alloys from zinc oxide to manganese oxide

Electrodeposition has emerged as a practical and simple method to synthesise semiconductor materials under different forms, thin films or nanostructured layers. This work reports on the cathodic electrodeposition of ZnMnO thin layers using both zinc and manganese chlorides as precursors. The composition of thin films can be varied from binary zinc oxide to manganese oxide varying the Mn/(Mn+Zn) ratio between 0 and 1. The composition of ZnxMnyOz films was obtained by energy dispersive spectroscopy. Zn1−xMnxO films with Mn/Zn ratio less than 10% exhibit a crystalline wurtzite structure typical of ZnO fully oriented in the (0 0 2) direction. Higher Mn content leads to deformation of the ZnO lattice and the wurtzite structure is no longer maintained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy points out that Mn3O4 tends to be deposited when a high Mn/Zn ratio is used in the starting solution. Magnetic measurements on films with Mn/(Zn+Mn) ratio near 1 reveal magnetic characteristics similar to Mn3O4 compounds. The transmission spectra of ZnxMnyOz show the typical absorption edge of crystalline ZnO while the wurtzite structure is maintained and it shifts to higher wavelengths when Mn content increases.