Influence of the Substrate, Process Conditions, and Postannealing Temperature on the Properties of ZnO Thin Films Grown by the Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction Method

Here, we report the effect of the substrate, sonication process, and postannealing on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of ZnO thin films grown in the presence of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) at temperature 30-65 degrees C by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method on both soda lime glass (SLG) and Cu foil. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed the preferential growth thin films along (002) and (101) planes of the wurtzite ZnO structure when deposited on SLG and Cu foil substrates, respectively. Both XRD and Raman spectra confirmed the ZnO and Cu-oxide phases of the deposited films. The scanning electron microscopy image of the deposited films shows compact and uniformly distributed grains for samples grown without sonication while using IPA at temperatures 50 and 65 degrees C. The postannealing treatment improves the crystallinity of the films, further evident by XRD and transmission and reflection results. The estimated optical band gaps are in the range of 3.37-3.48 eV for the as-grown samples. Our experimental results revealed that high-quality ZnO thin films could be grown without sonication using an IPA dispersant at 50 degrees C, which is much lower than the reported results using the SILAR method. This study suggests that in the presence of IPA, the SLG substrate results in better c-axis-oriented ZnO thin films than that of deionized water, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol at the optimum temperature of 50 degrees C. Air annealing of the samples grown on Cu foils induced the formation of CuxO/ZnO junctions, which is evident from the characteristic I-V curve including the structural and optical data.

Automated summary

This study reports the effects of substrate, sonication process, and postannealing on the properties of ZnO thin films grown using the SILAR method on SLG and Cu foil. The use of IPA dispersant at 50 degrees Celsius resulted in high-quality ZnO thin films, demonstrating better c-axis orientation on SLG compared to other dispersants at the same temperature.