Effect of Mg doping and substrate temperature on the properties of pulsed laser deposited epitaxial Zn1−x Mg x O thin films

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the pulsed laser deposition of epitaxial (0002) oriented Zn1−xMgxO thin films onto (0001) sapphire substrate in O2 ambient at different deposition temperatures. Pulsed laser deposited Zn1−xMgxO films showed (0002) oriented hexagonal wurtzite structure up to 34% of Mg concentration. The bandgap of Zn1−xMgxO thin films is successfully tuned from 3.3 to 4.2 eV by adjusting the Mg concentration x=0.0 to x=0.34. Pulsed laser deposited Zn1−xMgxO thin films were characterized by XRD, AFM, SEM, PL and UV–VIS spectrometer. We have also studied the effect of deposition temperature on to the structure, surface morphology and optical properties of Zn1−xMgxO thin films.