Synthesis and characterization of zinc aluminum oxide thin films by sol–gel technique

Abstract

Crack free, and dense ZnAl 2 O 4 thin films have been prepared by a sol–gel method using aluminum sec -butoxide and zinc acetate. The complete single phase cubic structure of ZnAl 2 O 4 was formed on a silicon (1 0 0) substrate at an annealing temperature of 700°C for 5 h. As the annealing temperature increased from 700 to 800°C, we did not observe any kind of diffusion of Si in the formation of silicate phase at the interface of Si and ZnAl 2 O 4 phase as observed by grazing angle XRD. Structural, morphological and elemental evolution of these ZnAl 2 O 4 thin films produced by sol–gel synthesis were characterized by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively.