ZnO Grown on (111) ZnS Substrates by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

ZnO thin films have been grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on (111) ZnS substrates. The films grown on Zn-face substrates showed better structural and optical properties compared with those grown on S-face substrates, as demonstrated by x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. Scanning electron microscopy measurements indicated that ZnO films grown on Zn-face substrates also have smoother surface morphology. It is also found that higher growth temperature yields films with better quality.