Abstract
This paper mainly addresses the effects of the NH4Cl concentration and etching time on the surface texture of <103>-oriented ZnO:Al films deposited by using direct-current pulse-magnetron reactive sputtering. A mechanism for the etching of the ZnO:Al films by NH4Cl is also proposed. The best surface texture was observed the same as it was etched for 15 min by using a 3.0 wt.% NH4Cl solution. The average reflectivity at wavelengths from 300 nm to 800 nm was sharply reduced to 4.607%. The etching with NH4Cl is closely related to the preferential <103> orientation rather than the usual preferential <002>orientation. The increased number of defects around the boundary is responsible for the surface texture and the blueshift of the absorption edge of the films.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
D. Y. Song, A. G. Aberle and J. Xia, Appl. Surf. Sci. 195, 291 (2002).
K. Vanheusden, W. L. Warren, C. H. Seager, D. R. Tallant, J. A. Voigt and B. E. Gnade, J. Appl. Phys. 79, 7983 (1996).
K. L. Chopra, S. Major and D. K. Pandya, Thin Solid Films 102, 1 (1983).
C. G. Granqvist, Thin Solid Films 193–194, 730 (1990).
B. Rech, H.Wagner, Appl. Phys. A 69, 155 (1999).
J. Müller, B. Rech, J. Springer and M. Vanecek, Solar Energy 77, 917 (2004).
J. Müller, O. Kluth, S. Wieder, H. Siekmann, G. Schöpe, W. Reetz, O. Vetterl, D. Lundszien, A. Lambertz, F. Finger, B. Rech and H. Wagner, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 66, 275 (2001).
O. Kluth, B. Rech, L. Houben, S. Wieder, G. Schöpe, C. Beneking, H. Wagner, A. Löffl and H. W. Schock, Thin Solid Films 351, 247 (1999).
B. Rech, T. Repmann, M. N. van den Donker, M. Berginski, T. Kilper, J. Hpkes, S. Calnan, H. Stiebig and S. Wieder, Thin Solid Films 511–512, 548 (2006).
S. W. Na, M. H. Shin, Y. M. Chung, J.G. Han and N. E. Lee, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 23, 898 (2005).
J. S. Park, H. J. Park, Y. B. Hahn, G. C. Yi and A. Yoshikawa, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 21, 800 (2003).
J. M. Lee, K. M. Chang, K. K. Kim and W. K. Choi, J. Electrochem. Soc. 148, G1 (2001).
J. Hupkes, B. Rech, O. Kluth, T. Repmann, B. Zwaygardt, J. Muller, R. Drese and M. Wuttig, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 90, 3054 (2006).
M. Berginski, J. Huepkes, M. Schulte, G. Schope, H. Stiebig, B. Rech and M. Wuttig, J. Appl. Phys. 101, 074903 (2007).
J. C. Sun, J. M. Bian, H. W. Liang, J. Z. Zhao, L. Z. Hu, Z. W. Zhao, W. F. Liu and G. T. Du, Appl. Surf. Sci. 253, 5161 (2007).
Y. C. Lin, Y. C. Jian and J. H. Jiang, Appl. Surf. Sci. 254, 2671 (2008).
J. I. Owen, J. Hüpkes, H. Zhu, E. Bunte and S. E. Pust, Phys. Status Solidi A 208, 109 (2011).
C. Chen, Y. Ji, X. Y. Gao, M. K. Zhao, J. M. Ma, Z. Y. Zhang and J. X. Lu, Acta Phys. Sin. 61, 036104 (2012) (in Chinese).
Z. Y. Zhang, Y. Zhang, L. Duan, B. X. Lin and Z. X. Fu, J. Cryst. Growth 290, 341 (2006).
H. K. Yadav, K. Sreenivas and V. Gupta, J. Appl. Phys. 99, 083507 (2006).
A. Segmuller, M. Murakami and R. Rosenberg, Analytical Techniques for Thin Films (Academic Press, Boston, 1988), p. 143.
X. Y. Gao, Q. G. Lin, H. L. Feng, Y. S. Chen, S. E. Yang, J. H. Gu, W. Q. Li and J. X. Lu, Appl. Surf. Sci. 255, 7268 (2009)
X. Y. Gao, Q. G. Lin, H. L. Feng and J. X. Lu, Braz. J. Phys. 38, 336 (2008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, C., Liang, Y. & Gao, XY. Surface texture of pulse-magnetron-sputtered ZnO:Al films by using a diluted NH4Cl aqueous solution. Journal of the Korean Physical Society 66, 1569–1574 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.66.1569
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.66.1569