Zinc chalcogenide thin films grown by the atomic layer epitaxy technique using zinc acetate as source material

Anhydrous zinc acetate (Zn(CH₃COO)₂) was found to be a suitable source material for growing thin films by the atomic layer epitaxy method. The growth of both ZnS and ZnO thin films with good reproducibility and uniform thickness from Zn(CH₃COO)₂ and H₂S or H₂O respectively was demonstrated.ZnS thin films showed excellent crystallinity and a high orientation of the growth direction. The ZnO thin films were mainly amorphous and the growth rate was approximately one-fifth of that found for ZnS growth.Some experiments were also carried out to dope the ZnS films with manganese and terbium, resulting in yellow and green luminescence respectively.