Preparation of ZnO thin films by reactive e-beam evaporation technique

Full text.Zin oxide thin films have been grown on (100)-oriented silicon substrate by reactive e-beam evaporation technique in an oxygen environment. Structural, electrical and optical characteristics have been studied before and after annealing in air by measurements of x-ray diffraction, reflectivity, real and imaginary parts of the dielectric coefficient, refractive index and electrical resistivity. X-ray diffraction measurements have shown that ZnO films are highly c-axis-oriented with a full width maximum (FWMH) lower than 0.5 degree. The electrical resistivity of the electron beam evaporated films increases from 10-2Ω.cm to about 109Ω.cm after annealing at 750degreC. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) has shown the improvement of the refractive index and the real dielectric coefficient after annealing treatment at 750degreC of the evaporated ZnO thin films. the FTIR measurements have been performed to verify the local structure of ZnO films and how is changes with the annealing process. AFM images show that the surface of the e-beam evaporated ZnO are relatively smooth