Structural and Electronic Properties of Flexible ZnO and Ti/Mn:ZnO Thin Films

Abstract

Thin films of ZnO, Ti doped ZnO and Mn doped ZnO were prepared on flexible polyimide substrates by means of the RF sputtering technique for different sputtering parameters, and their structural and electronic properties were investigated. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) results confirmed that the grown samples followed the hexagonal wurtzite symmetry. The lattice parameters and the crystallite size showed a dependence on doping as well as deposition condition. The presence of oxygen during sputtering growth significantly suppressed the crystallite size and increased the number of oxygen defect states. The effect of doping and the deposition parameters on the electronic structure of flexible ZnO thin films was also realized through X-ray absorption measurements.