Current Applied Physics

Korean Physical Society (한국물리학회)
권호 표지

Epitaxial growth of highly transparent and conducting Sc-doped ZnO films on c-plane sapphire by sol–gel process without buffer

Sharma, Ruchika;Sehrawat, Kiran;Mehra, R.M.

  • Published : 20100000
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Abstract

Highly transparent and conductive scandium doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Sc) films were deposited on c-plane sapphire substrates by sol–el technique using zinc acetate dihydrate [$Zn(CH_3COO)_2\;2H_2O$] as precursor, 2-methoxyethanol as solvent and monoethanolamine as a stabilizer. The doping with scandium is achieved by adding 0.5 wt% of scandium nitrate hexahydrate [($ScNO_3\;6H_2O$)] in the solution. The influence of annealing temperature (300–550 ${^{\circ}C}$) on the structural, optical and electrical properties was investigated. X-ray Diffraction study revealed that highly c-axis oriented films with full-width half maximum of $0.16^{\circ}$ are obtained at an annealing temperature of 400 ${^{\circ}C}$. The surface morphology of the films was judged by SEM and AFM images which indicated formation of grains. The average transmittance was found to be above 92% in the visible region. ZnO:Sc film, annealed at 400 ${^{\circ}C}$ exhibited minimum resistivity of $1.91\;{\times}\;10^{-4}\Omega$ cm. Room-temperature photoluminescence measurements of the ZnO:Sc films annealed at 400 ${^{\circ}C}$ showed ultraviolet peak at -3.31eV with a FWHM of 11.2 meV, which are comparable to those found in high-quality ZnO films. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction pattern confirmed the epitaxial nature of the films even without introducing any buffer layer.

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