Growth and characterization of pulsed laser deposited ZnO thin films

• Authors: Andrej Vincze , Jaroslav Bruncko , Miroslav Michalka , Daniel Figura
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

One of the most important and promising materials from metal oxides is ZnO with specific properties for near UV emission and absorption optical devices. The properties of ZnO thin films strongly depend on the deposition method. Among them, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) plays an important role for preparing various kinds of ZnO films, e.g. doped, undoped, monocrystalline, and polycrystalline. Different approaches - ablation of sintered ZnO pellets or pure metallic Zn as target material are described. This contribution is comparing properties of ZnO thin films deposited from pure Zn target in oxygen atmosphere and those deposited from sintered ZnO target. There is a close connection between final thin film properties and PLD conditions. The surface properties of differently grown ZnO thin films are measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, different approaches - ablation of sintered ZnO pellet or pure metallic Zn as target materials are described. The main results characterize typical properties of ZnO films versus technological parameters are presented.

Keywords

EN

ZnO; thin film; pulsed laser deposition; laser ablation; Zn target; ZnO target

Discipline

• 81.15.Fg: Pulsed laser ablation deposition
• 79.20.Ds: Laser-beam impact phenomena
• 73.61.Ga: II-VI semiconductors

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Open Physics
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 385-397

Dates

published

1 - 9 - 2007

online

8 - 6 - 2007

Contributors

author

Andrej Vincze

• International Laser Center, Ilkovicova 3, 812 19, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

author

Jaroslav Bruncko

• International Laser Center, Ilkovicova 3, 812 19, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

author

Miroslav Michalka

• International Laser Center, Ilkovicova 3, 812 19, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

author

Daniel Figura

• Department of Microelectronics, Slovak University of Technology, Ilkovicova 3, 812 19, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

References

• [1] P.Y. Yu and M. Cardona: Fundamentals of Semiconductors, Springer, Berlin, 2001.
• [2] D.C. Look: “Recent advances in ZnO materials and devices”, Mat. Sci. Eng. B-Solid, Vol. 80, (2001), pp. 383–387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5107(00)00604-8[Crossref]
• [3] Y. Chen, D. M. Bagnall and T. Yao: “ZnO as a novel photonic material for the UV region”, Mat. Sci. Eng. B-Solid, Vol. 75, (2000), pp. 190–198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5107(00)00372-X[Crossref]
• [4] T. Nobis, E.M. Kaidashev, A. Rahm, M. Lorenz, J. Lenzner and M. Grundmann: “Spatially Inhomogeneous Impurity Distribution in ZnO Micropillars”, Nano Lett., Vol. 4, (2004), pp. 797–800. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl049889y[Crossref]
• [5] K. Nomura, H. Ohta, K. Ueda, T. Kamiya, M. Hirano and H. Hosono: “Thin-Film Transistor fabricated in Single crystalline transparent oxide Semiconductor”, Science, Vol. 300, (2003), pp. 1269–1272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1083212[Crossref]
• [6] Cermet, Inc.: http://www.cermetinc.com
• [7] S.Y. Lee, E.S. Shim, H.S. Kang, S.S. Pang and J.S. Kang: “Fabrication of ZnO thin film diode using laser annealing”, Thin Solid Films, Vol. 473, (2005), pp. 31–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2004.06.194[Crossref]
• [8] K.-K. Kim, H.-S. Kim, D.-K. Hwang, J.-H. Lim and S.-J. Park: “Realization of ptype ZnO thin films via phosphorus doping and thermal activation of the dopant”, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 83, (2003), pp. 63–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1591064[Crossref]
• [9] D.M. Bagnall, Y.F. Chen, Z. Zhu, T. Yao, S. Koyama, M.Y. Shen and T. Goto: “Optically pumped lasing of ZnO at room temperature”, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 70, (1997), pp. 2230–2232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.118824[Crossref]
• [10] K. Haga, M. Kamidaira, Y. Kashiwaba, T. Sekiguchi and H. Watanabe: “ZnO thin films prepared by remote plasma-enhanced CVD method”, J. Cryst. Growth, Vol. 214-215, (2000), pp. 770–780. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0248(00)00068-3[Crossref]
• [11] A. Hachigo, H. Nakahata, K. Higaki, S. Fujii and S. Shikata: “Heteroepitaxial growth of ZnO films on diamond (111) plane by magnetron sputtering”, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 65, (1996), pp. 2556–2558. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.112634[Crossref]
• [12] S. Choopun, R.D. Vispute, W. Noch, A. Balsamo, R.P. Sharma, T. Venkatesan, A. Iliadis and D.C. Look: “Oxygen pressure-tuned epitaxy and optoelectronic properties of laser-deposited ZnO films on sapphire”, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 75, (1999), pp. 3947–3949. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.125503[Crossref]
• [13] S.H. Bae, S.Y. Lee, B.J. Jin and S. Im: “Pulsed laser deposition of ZnO thin films for applications of light emission”, Appl. Surf. Sci., Vol. 154-155, (2000), pp. 458–461. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(99)00398-0[Crossref]
• [14] D.B. Chrisley and G.K. Hubler, Pulsed Laser Deposition of Thin Films, Wiley, New York, 1994.
• [15] P. Bílková, B. Mitu, V. Marotta, G. Mattei, S. Orlando and A. Santagata: “Reactive pulsed laser deposition of zinc oxide thin films”, Appl. Phys. A-Mater., Vol. 79, (2004), pp. 1061–1065.
• [16] A. Fouchet, W. Prellier, B. Mercey, L. Méchin, V.N. Kulkarni and T. Venkatesan: “Investigation of laser ablated ZnO thin films grown with Zn metal target. A structural study”, J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 96, (2004), pp. 3228–3233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1772891[Crossref]
• [17] V. Craciun, S. Amirhaghi, D. Craciun, J. Elders, J.G.E. Gardeniers and I. W. Boyd: “Effect of laser wavelength and fluence on the growth of ZnO thin films by pulsed laser deposition”, Appl. Surf. Sci., Vol. 86, (1995), pp. 99–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-4332(94)00405-6[WoS][Crossref]
• [18] S.L. King, J.G.E. Gardeniers and I.W. Boyd: “Pulsed laser deposited ZnO for device applications”, Appl. Surf. Sci., Vol. 96-98, (1996), pp. 811–818. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-4332(96)80027-4[Crossref]
• [19] E. Millon, O. Albert, J.C. Loulergue, J. Etchepare, D. Hulin, W. Seiler and J. Perriere: “Growth of heteroepitaxial ZnO thin films by femtosecond pulsed-laser deposition”, J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 88, (2000), pp. 6937–6939. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1324679[Crossref]
• [20] J. Perriere, E. Millon, W. Seiler, C. Boulmer-Leborgne, V. Craciun, O. Albert, J. C. Loulergue and J. Etchepare: “Comparison between ZnO films grown by femtosecond and nanosecond laser ablation”, J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, (2002), pp. 690–696. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1426250[Crossref]
• [21] S.H. Bae, S.Y. Lee, B.J. Jin and S. Im: “Growth and characterization of ZnO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition”, Appl. Surf. Sci., Vol. 169-170, (2001), pp. 525–528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(00)00752-2[Crossref]
• [22] S.H. Bae, S.Y. Lee, H.Y. Kim and S. Im: “Effects of post-annealing treatment on the light emission properties of ZnO thin films on Si”, Opt. Mater., Vol. 17, (2001), pp. 327–330. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0925-3467(01)00054-4[Crossref]
• [23] S.H. Bae, S.Y. Lee, H.Y. Kim and S. Im: “Comparison of the optical properties of ZnO thin films grown on various substrates by pulsed laser deposition”, Appl. Surf. Sci., Vol. 168, (2000), pp. 332–334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(00)00781-9[Crossref]
• [24] J.C. Vickerman and D. Briggs: TOF-SIMS: Surface analysis by mass spectrometry, IM Publications and Surface Spectra Ltd, UK, 2001.
• [25] NT-MDT manual, www.ntmdt.com
• [26] X.M. Fan, J.S. Lian, Z.X. Guo and H.J. Lu: “Microstructure and photoluminescence properties of ZnO thin films grown by PLD on Si(111) substrates”, Appl. Surf. Sci., Vol. 239, (2005), pp. 176–181. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2004.05.144[Crossref]

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s11534-007-0027-4