Influences of Substrate and Annealing on the Structural and Optical Properties and Photoluminescence of Nanocrystalline ZnO Films Prepared by Plasma Assisted Pulsed Laser Deposition

Single-crystalline silicon, amorphous quartz, and single-crystalline sapphire were used as the substrates for the deposition of nanocrystalline zinc oxide (nc-ZnO) thin films by plasma assisted pulsed laser deposition from metallic zinc at low temperature below 80 °C, and a postdeposition annealing process was performed for the deposited nc-ZnO thin films. The influences of substrate and annealing on the structural and optical properties as well as the photoluminescence of the prepared nc-ZnO thin films were studied. Raman spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy measurements reveal the wurtzite ZnO phase in the films. X-ray diffraction results indicate the nanocrystalline structure of the films with c axis perpendicular to substrates. Optical characterization shows that the prepared films have an ultraviolet (UV) absorption edge near 380 nm with a direct band gap of about 3.25 eV. The prepared films emit predominantly UV photoluminescence at light excitation. The structure and properties ...