ZnO thin films deposited by a CVT technique in closed ampoules

ZnO thin films were prepared on quartz glass, Si (100), and sapphire (001) substrates by a chemical vapour transport (CVT) technique. During the growing processes, the source and substrate temperatures were maintained at 1000 °C and 600 °C, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed that the crystalline qualities of ZnO thin films were sensitively dependent on substrates. ZnO thin film deposited on sapphire substrate exhibited the best morphology with the largest crystallite size of more than 20 μm. Meanwhile, the XRD patterns showed that ZnO thin film deposited on sapphire substrate was strongly c-axis preferred-oriented with high crystalline quality. The optical properties of ZnO thin films were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy at room temperature (RT). The results suggested that the optical properties of ZnO thin films were highly influenced by their crystalline qualities and surface morphologies.