Role of oxygen concentrations on structural and optical properties of RF magnetron sputtered ZnO thin films

Abstract

We report an investigation on the efect of oxygen fow rate on the structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin flms prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The structural measurements were carried using grazing incidence X-ray difraction, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The role of oxygen partial pressure on the crystallinity, the surface morphology and vibrational modes has been established. The optical properties of the flms were investigated using FR-Basic-VIS/NIR ftted with FR-Monitor software for flm thickness, refractive index and color determination. The flm thickness is observed to increase when oxygen is introduced at 4 sccm but eventual decrease with increase in the fow rate an indication of initial increase in rate of deposition followed by reduction. Elaborate explanations of these trends are provided