Investigation of interdiffusion in thin films of ZnO/ZnCdO grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) was used to determine the composition, uniformity, impurity, and elemental depth profiles of Zn, Cd, and O in ZnCdO/ZnO thin film deposited on differently oriented Al2O3 substrates using molecular beam epitaxy technique. For the films deposited under the same condition, it was observed that the variation of Zn/Cd/O ratios is dependent on substrate orientation and highly depends on the growth parameters. The composition and thickness variation, in relationship with two different substrates ori-entations, were explored with RBS, scanning electron microscopy, and photoluminescence measurements. It was found that ZnCdO films deposited on r-oriented ZnO buffers exhibit much less surface roughness and intermixing after the rapid thermal processing annealing is less extensive.

Automated summary

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) was used to analyze the composition, uniformity, impurity, and elemental depth profiles of ZnCdO/ZnO thin film deposited on different oriented Al2O3 substrates. The results showed that the Zn/Cd/O ratios varied depending on substrate orientation and growth parameters. The study also revealed that ZnCdO films deposited on r-oriented ZnO buffers had less surface roughness and intermixing after rapid thermal processing annealing.