Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Synthesis and effect of post-deposition thermal annealing on morphological and optical properties of ZnO thin film

  • Published:
Research on Chemical Intermediates Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Zinc oxide thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by the chemical bath deposition method; a surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB); was used as capping agent. The films were annealed at two different temperatures: 200 and 300 °C. The structural features were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis which exhibited hexagonal wurtzite structures along with c-axis orientations. Crystallite size was estimated and found to be around 33–41 nm. The effect of post-deposition thermal annealing on the morphological and optical properties has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectra at room temperature. The band gap energies of uncapped and CTAB-capped ZnO films were found to be 3.28 and 3.48 eV, respectively.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Y.F. Chen, D.M. Bagnall, H. Koh, K. Park, K. Hiraga, Z. Zhu, T. Yao, Plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy of ZnO on c-plane sapphire: growth and characterization. J. Appl. Phys. 84, 3912 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. K. Govender, D.S. Boyle, P.O. Brien, D. Binks, D. West, D. Coleman, Room-temperature lasing observed from ZnO nanocolumns grown by aqueous solution deposition. Adv. Mater. 14, 1221 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. L. Zhang, Y. Ding, M. Povey, D. York, ZnO nanofluids: a potential antibacterial agent. Prog. Nat. Sci. 18, 939–944 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. P. Kathirvel, D. Manoharan, S.M. Mohan, S. Kumar, Spectral investigation of chemical bath deposited. Zinc oxide thin films–ammonia gas sensor. J Optoelectron Biomed Mater 1, 25–33 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  5. E. Fortunato, P. Barquinha, A. Pimentel, A. Goncalves, A. Marques, L. Pereira, R. Martins, Recent advances in ZnO transparent thin film transistors. Thin Solid Films 487, 205–211 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. H. Kim, J.S. Horwitz, W.H. Kim, A.J. Makinen, Z.H. Kafafi, D.B. Chrisey, Doped ZnO thin films as anode materials for organic light-emitting diodes. Thin Solid Films 420–421, 539–543 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Y.R. Ryu, T.S. Lee, J.A. Lubguban, H.W. White, Y.S. Park, C.J. Youn, ZnO devices: photodiodes and p-type field-effect transistors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 153504–153506 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. M.H. Koch, P.Y. Timbrell, R.N. Lamb, The influence of film crystallinity on the coupling efficiency of ZnO optical modulator waveguides. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 10, 1523 (1995)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. C. Ye, X. Fang, Y. Hao, X. Teng, L. Zhang, Zinc oxide nanostructures: morphology derivation and evolution. J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 19758–19765 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. J. Zhang, Y. Yang, B. Xu, F. Jiang, J. Li, Shape-controlled synthesis of ZnO nano and micro-structures. J. Cryst. Growth 280, 509–515 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. G. Shen, J.H. Cho, C.J. Le, Morphology-controlled synthesis, growth mechanism and optical properties of ZnO nanonails. Chem. Phys. Lett. 401, 414–419 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Y.H. Leung, A.B. Djurisic, J. Gao, M.H. Xie, W.K. Chan, Changing the shape of ZnO nanostructures by controlling Zn vapor release: from tetrapod to bone-like nanorods. Chem. Phys. Lett. 385, 155–159 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. S. Muthukumar, C.R. Gorla, N.W. Emanetoglu, S. Liang, Y. Lu, Control of morphology and orientation of ZnO thin films grown on SiO2/Si substrates. J. Cryst. Growth 225, 197–201 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. X. Sun, H. Zhang, J. Xu, Q. Zhao, R. Wang, D. Yu, Shape controllable synthesis of ZnO nanorod arrays via vapor phase growth. Solid State Commun. 129, 803–807 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. S.H. Lee, H.J. Lee, D. Oh, S.W. Lee, H. Goto, R. Buckmaster, T. Yasukawa, T. Matsue, S.K. Hong, H.C. Ko, M.W. Cho, T. Yao, Control of the ZnO nanowires nucleation site using microfluidic channels. J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 3856–3859 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. H. Xu, K. Ohtani, M. Yamao, H. Ohno, Control of ZnO (000)/Al2O3 (110) surface morphologies using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Phys. Status Solidi B 243, 773–777 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Z.W. Liu, J.F. Gu, C.W. Sun, Q.Y. Zhang, Study on nucleation and dynamic scaling of morphological evolution of ZnO film deposition by reactive magnetron sputtering. Wuli Xuebao 55, 1965–1973 (2006)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. P.K. Nair, M.T.S. Nair, Chemically deposited ZnS thin films: application as substrate for chemically deposited Bi2S3, Cu x S and PbS thin films. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 7, 239 (1992)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. B.R. Sankapal, S.D. Sartale, C.D. Lokhande, A. Ennaoui, Chemical synthesis of Cd-free wide band gap materials for solar cells. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 83, 447 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. K. Govender, D.S. Boyle, P.B. Kenway, P.O. Brien, Understanding the factors that govern the deposition and morphology of thin films of ZnO from aqueous solution. J. Mater. Chem. 14, 2575–2591 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. X.D. Gao, X.M. Li, W.D. Yu, Rapid preparation, characterization and photoluminescence of ZnO films by a novel chemical method. Mater. Res. Bull. 40, 1104–1111 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. H.C. Chang, CFu Chen, C.C. Le, Thin-film transistors with active layers of zinc oxide (ZnO) fabricated by low-temperature chemical bath method. Thin Solid Films 498, 142–145 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Aranovich, A. Ortiz, R.H. Bube, Optical and electrical properties of ZnO films prepared by spray pyrolysis for solar cell applications. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 16, 994 (1979)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. W. Tang, D.C. Cameron, Aluminum-doped zinc oxide transparent conductors deposited by the sol–gel process. Thin Solid Films 238, 83–87 (1994)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. M. Caglar, Y. Caglar, S. Ilican, The determination of the thickness and optical constants of the ZnO crystalline thin film by using envelope method. J. Optoelectron. Adv. Mater. 8, 1410–1413 (2006)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. A.K. Singh, V. Viswanath, V.C. Janu, Synthesis, effect of capping agents, structural, optical and photoluminescence properties of ZnO nanoparticles. J. Lumin. 129, 874–878 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. S.S. Tneh, Z. Hassan, K.G. Saw, F.K. Yam, H. Abu Hassan, The structural and optical characterizations of ZnO synthesized using the “bottom-up” growth method. Physica B 405, 2045–2048 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. B.D. Cullity, Elements of X-ray diffraction, 2nd edn. (Addison-Wesley Company, Menlo Park), p. 102

  29. A. Kothari, T.K. Chaudhuri, One-minute microwave-assisted chemical bath deposition of nanostructured ZnO rod-arrays. Mater. Lett. 65, 847–849 (2011)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. V.R. Shinde, C.D. Lokhande, R.S. Mane, S.H. Han, Hydrophobic and textured ZnO films deposited by chemical bath deposition: annealing effect. Appl. Surf. Sci. 245, 407–413 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. T. Mouet, T. Devers, A. Telia, Z. Messai, V. Harel, K. Konstantinov, I. Kante, M.T. Ta, Growth and characterization of thin ZnO films deposited on glass substrates by electrodeposition technique. Appl. Surf. Sci. 256, 4114–4120 (2010)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. C. Vargas-Hernandez, F.N. Jimenez-Garcıa, J.F. Jurado, V. Henao Granada, XRD, μ-Raman and optical absorption investigations of ZnO deposited by SILAR method. Microelectron. J. 39, 1347–1348 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. B.J. Lokhande, M.D. Uplane, Structural, optical and electrical studies on spray deposited highly oriented ZnO films. Appl. Surf. Sci. 167, 243–246 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. C.S. Shi, Z.X. Fu, C.X. Guo, X.L. Ye, Y.G. Wei, J. Deng, J.Y. Shi, G.B. Zhang, UV luminescence and spectral properties of ZnO films deposited on Si substrates. J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. 101–103, 629–632 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. A.F. Kohan, G. Ceder, D. Morgan, C.G. Van de Walle, First-principles study of native point defects in ZnO. Phys. Rev. B 61, 15019 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. J. Wang, G. Du, Y. Zhang, B. Zhao, X. Yang, D. Liu, Retracted: luminescence properties of ZnO films annealed in growth ambient and oxygen. J. Cryst. Growth 263, 269–272 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

A.K.S. extends his gratitude towards University Grants Commission, India, for the financial assistance in the form of a project [F. no. 40-99/2011(SR)]. We are grateful to UGC-DAE-IUC Indore, India for extending laboratory facilities for XRD, and to IIT Kanpur, India for SEM and PL studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Govt. V.Y.T.PG Autonomous College, Durg, Chhattisgarh, India

    Ajaya Kumar Singh, Gautam Sheel Thool & Soumya R. Deo

  2. Department of Physics, Govt. D. T. College, Utai, Durg, Chhattisgarh, India

    R. S. Singh

  3. Samtel Center for Display Technologies, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ashish Gupta

Authors
  1. Ajaya Kumar Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gautam Sheel Thool
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Soumya R. Deo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. S. Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ashish Gupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ajaya Kumar Singh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Singh, A.K., Thool, G.S., Deo, S.R. et al. Synthesis and effect of post-deposition thermal annealing on morphological and optical properties of ZnO thin film. Res Chem Intermed 38, 2041–2049 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-012-0524-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-012-0524-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation