Oriented Zinc Oxide Nanocrystalline Thin Films Grown from Sol-Gel Solution
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6000/2369-3355.2015.02.02.2Keywords:
Zinc oxide, sol-gel, oxygen plasma, crystal sizeAbstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide band gap (~3.37 eV) semiconductor. Thin film ZnO has many attractive applications in optoelectronics and sensors. Recently, nanostructured ZnO (e.g. ZnO quantum dot) has been demonstrated as a hyperbolic material; its dielectric function has opposite signs along different crystal axes within the mid-infrared, making it an interesting material for metamaterials and nanophotonics. Conventional sputtering deposition usually leads to the formation of polycrystalline ZnO films with randomly oriented grains and rough surface. This work demonstrated a solution-based process to grow ZnO thin films with highly oriented nanocrystals. Low-temperature plasmas were employed to modulate the microstructure and optical properties of the films. Such highly anisotropic nanostructured transparent semiconductor films may lead to interesting material properties in developing new optoelectronic devices.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-8842(00)00031-6
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1674-1056/20/9/096102
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2009.03.140
[2] Meena JS, Chu M-C, Chang Y-C, et al. Effect of oxygen plasma on the surface states of ZnO films used to produce thin-film transistors
on soft plastic sheets. J Mater Chem C 2013; 1: 6613-22.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c3tc31320d
[3] Li H, Wang J, Liu H, et al. Sol–gel preparation of transparent zinc oxide films with highly preferential crystal orientation. Vacuum 2004; 77: 57-62.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2004.08.003
[4] Zhou Z, Kato K, Komaki T, et al. Effects of dopants and hydrogen on the electrical conductivity of ZnO. J Eur Ceram Soc 2004; 24: 139-46.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0955-2219(03)00336-4
[5] Wang D, Zhao D, Wang F, Yao B, Shen D. Nitrogen?doped ZnO obtained by nitrogen plasma treatment. Physica Status Solidi A 2015; 212: 846-50.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201431779
[6] Van de Walle CG. Hydrogen as a cause of doping in zinc oxide. Phys Rev Lett 2000; 85: 1012.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1012
[7] Kumar NS, Bangera KV, Shivakumar G. Effect of annealing on the properties of zinc oxide nanofiber thin films grown by spray pyrolysis technique. Appl Nanosci 2014; 4: 209-16.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13204-012-0190-9
[8] Ozgur U, Hofstetter D, Morkoc H. ZnO devices and applications: a review of current status and future prospects. Proc IEEE 2010; 98: 1255-68.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2010.2044550
[9] Znaidi L. Sol–gel-deposited ZnO thin films: a review. Mater Sci Eng B 2010; 174: 18-30.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mseb.2010.07.001
[10] Fonoberov VA, Balandin AA. Polar optical phonons in wurtzite spheroidal quantum dots: theory and application to ZnO and ZnO/MgZnO nanostructures. J Phys Condens Matter 2005; 17: 1085-97.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/17/7/003
[11] Hsu C-W, Cheng T-C, Yang C-H, Shen Y-L, Wu J-S, Wu S-Y. Effects of oxygen addition on physical properties of ZnO thin film grown by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering. J Alloys Compd 2011; 509: 1774-6.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2010.10.037
[12] Kuo F-L, Li Y, Solomon M, Du J, Shepherd ND. Work function tuning of zinc oxide films by argon sputtering and oxygen plasma: An experimental and computational study. J Phys D Appl Phys 2012; 45: 065301.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/45/6/065301
[13] Znaidi L. Sol–gel-deposited ZnO thin films: a review. Materi Sci Eng B 2010; 174: 18-30.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mseb.2010.07.001
[14] Elilarassi R, Chandrasekaran G. Effect of annealing on structural and optical properties of zinc oxide films. Mater Chem Phys 2010; 121: 378-84.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2010.01.053
[15] Ng Z-N, Chan K-Y, Sin Y-K, Hoon J-W, Ng S-S. Influence of post-annealing condition on the properties of ZnO films. Ceram Int 2013; 39: S263-S7.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.10.074
[16] Sengupta J, Sahoo R, Mukherjee C. Effect of annealing on the structural, topographical and optical properties of sol–gel derived ZnO and AZO thin films. Mater Lett 2012; 83: 84-7.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2012.05.130
[17] Ng Z-N, Chan K-Y, Tohsophon T. Effects of annealing temperature on ZnO and AZO films prepared by sol–gel technique. Appl Surf Sci 2012; 258: 9604-9.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2012.05.156
[18] Zak AK, Abrishami ME, Majid WA, Yousefi R, Hosseini S. Effects of annealing temperature on some structural and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles prepared by a modified sol–gel combustion method. Ceram Int 2011; 37: 393-8.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2010.08.017
[19] Sengupta J, Sahoo R, Bardhan K, Mukherjee C. Influence of annealing temperature on the structural, topographical and optical properties of sol–gel derived ZnO thin films. Mater Lett 2011; 65: 2572-4.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.06.021
[20] Zhai J, Zhang L, Yao X. The dielectric properties and optical propagation loss of c-axis oriented ZnO thin films deposited by sol–gel process. Ceram Int 2000; 26: 883-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-8842(00)00031-6
[21] Chen X, Zhou J, Wang H, Xu P, Pan G. In situ high temperature X-ray diffraction studies of ZnO thin film. Chinese Phys B 2011; 20: 096102.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1674-1056/20/9/096102
[22] Caglar Y, Ilican S, Caglar M, et al. Influence of heat treatment on the nanocrystalline structure of ZnO film deposited on p-Si. J Alloys Compd 2009; 481: 885-9.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2009.03.140
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Published
2015-09-14
How to Cite
Pokharel, J., Shrestha, M., Zhou, L. Q., Neto, V., & Fan, Q. H. (2015). Oriented Zinc Oxide Nanocrystalline Thin Films Grown from Sol-Gel Solution. Journal of Coating Science and Technology, 2(2), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.6000/2369-3355.2015.02.02.2
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