Zn/O ratio and oxygen chemical state of nanocrystalline ZnO films grown at different temperatures

Abstract

ZnO nanocrystalline films are prepared on Si substrates at different temperatures by using metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). It is observed that when the growth temperature is low, the stoichiometric ratio between Zn and O atoms has a large deviation from the ideal ratio of 1:1. The ZnO grains in the film have small sizes and are not well crystallized, resulting in a poor photoluminescence (PL) property. When the temperature is increased to an appropriate value, the Zn/O ratio becomes optimized, and most of Zn and O atoms are combined into Zn—O bonds. Then the film has good crystal quality and good PL property. If the temperature is fairly high, the interfacial mutual diffusion of atoms between the substrate and the epitaxial film appears, and the desorption process of the oxygen atoms is enhanced. However, it has no effect on the film property. The film still has the best crystal quality and PL property.