ZnO thin films on Si(1 1 1) grown by pulsed laser deposition from metallic Zn target

Abstract

ZnO thin films with highly c-axis orientation have been fabricated on p-type Si(111) substrates at 400°C by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) from a metallic Zn target with oxygen pressures between 0.1 and 0.7mbar. Experimental results indicate that the films deposited at 0.3 and 0.5mbar have better crystalline and optical quality and flatter surfaces than the films prepared at other pressures. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of (0002) diffraction peak decreases remarkably from 0.46 to 0.19° with increasing annealing temperature for the film prepared at 0.3mbar. In photoluminescence (PL) spectra at room temperature, the annealed film at 700°C exhibits a smaller ultraviolet (UV) peak FWHM of 108meV than the as-grown film (119meV). However, an enhanced deep-level emission is observed. Possible origins to above results are discussed.