Characterization of ZnO thin films grown on various substrates by RF magnetron sputtering

In this study we investigated properties of ZnO thin films deposited on both oxygen-containing substrates and a substrate without oxygen content at various O2/Ar reactant gas ratios. Deposition of ZnO on indium–tin oxide (ITO) resulted in the best crystallinity, whereas the least degree of crystallization was observed from ZnO deposited on glass. All the films were found to have compressive stress, which was relieved by annealing in O2 environment. ZnO films deposited on glass revealed p-type conductivity when prepared at O2/Ar ratio of 0.25 whereas those on SiNx yielded p-type conductivity when prepared at O2/Ar ratio of 4. In addition, shallower oxygen interstitial seemed to be found from films with better crystallinity. The largest shift in binding energy of Zn2p3/2 was observed from ZnO prepared on glass at O2/Ar ratio of 0.25, whereas that of O1s was obtained from ZnO deposited on SiNx at O2/Ar ratio of 4. A model was proposed in terms of O2 diffusion and hydrogen desorption in order to account for the observed property variations depending on substrates and O2/Ar ratios.