Epitaxial growth of highly textured ZnO thin films on Si using an AlN buffer layer by atomic layer deposition

Highly textured ZnO thin films were successfully grown on Si(111) by atomic layer deposition using an epitaxial AlN buffer layer at deposition temperatures between 100 and 300 degrees C. X-ray diffraction analysis proves an epitaxial relationship of ZnO[0001]//AlN[0001] and ZnO[11 (2) over bar0]//AlN[11 (2) over bar0]. Omega scans of the (0002) and (10 (1) over bar0) reflections of ZnO demonstrate an improving crystalline quality for increasing deposition temperatures. An additional thermal postannealing step at 800 degrees C is found to be beneficial to further improve the crystal structure.

Automated summary

Highly textured ZnO thin films were successfully grown on Si(111) using an epitaxial AlN buffer layer at deposition temperatures between 100 and 300 degrees C. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed epitaxial relationships and showed improved crystalline quality with increasing deposition temperatures. Additionally, a thermal postannealing step at 800 degrees C further enhanced the crystal structure.