Effect of deposition temperature on the characteristics of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles thin films deposited by thermal chemical vapor deposition

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films were deposited by thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) method using a two furnace system. Sol-gel spin coated ZnO templates were used to enhance the growth of the nanoparticles. The thin films were deposited at 400 ~ 500°C to study the effect of the deposition temperature on the properties of the thin films. The samples were characterized using current-voltage (I-V) measurement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). We found that with the increasing deposition temperature, the size of the nanoparticles become smaller. XRD pattern indicates high crystallinity at (002) orientation for the sample deposited at 425°C. The samples also become more conductive with the increasing temperature as can be seen from I-V characteristics.