Electrodeposition of ZnO thin films by using molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide as oxygen precursors: Structural and optical properties

Zinc oxide thin films were potentiostatically electrodeposited from a ZnCl2+LiCl bath using two different oxygen precursors: molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the presence of the ZnO wurtzite structure with marked preferential orientation along the (0 0 2) axis. The optical transmittance shows a clear absorption edge in the ultraviolet (UV) region which corresponds to an energy band gap of 3.41±0.03 eV. As a general rule the higher band gap energies are related to the more transparent films.