Structural and optical properties of ZnO films produced by a nonvacuum chemical technique

• Published in: Semiconductors (Woodbury, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2014-09, Vol.48 (9), p.1145-1150
• Main Authors: Strelchuk, V. V., Avramenko, K. A., Romaniuk, A. S., Zavyalova, L. V., Svechnikov, G. S., Khomchenko, V. S., Roshchina, N. M., Tkach, V. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Crystals; Diffraction; Electronic Properties of Semiconductors; Epitaxy; Magnetic Materials; Magnetism; Methods; Optical properties; Photoluminescence; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Pyrolysis; Structure; X-rays; Zinc oxide
• ISSN: 1063-7826; 1090-6479
• DOI: 10.1134/S106378261409019X

Zinc-oxide films are grown by a new nonvacuum chemical method: the pyrolysis of zinc acetylacetonate at a temperature of 280–300°C. The structural, phonon, and emission properties of the ZnO films are studied by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Raman measurements, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The high-intensity (0002) peak recorded in the X-ray diffraction spectra indicate the predominant orientation of crystallites in the (0001) direction in the ZnO films. From analysis of the E 2 high mode in the Raman spectrum of the ZnO films, the elastic strains ɛ zz (∼3.2 × 10 −3 ) and the quality of the crystal structure are determined. The characteristics of the pyrolytic ZnO films are compared with the corresponding characteristics of ZnO films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. As a result, the possibility of growing polycrystalline ZnO films of rather high quality by a practically feasible low-temperature technique is demonstrated.