Growth and optical properties of sol-gel ZnO thin films grown on R-plane sapphire substrates

Zinc-oxide (ZnO) thin films were grown on R-plane sapphire substrates by using the sol-gel spincoating method. They were annealed at temperatures ranging from 600 to 800 °C. The effects of the annealing temperature on the properties of the ZnO thin films were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. When the annealing temperature was increased to 700 °C, the grains of the ZnO thin films coalesced, their size increased, and the residual stress in the ZnO thin films was relaxed. In addition, the intensity of the deep-level emission peak caused by defects decreased, and the full width at half maximum of the near-bandedge emission peak decreased as the annealing temperature was increased to 700 °C. However, when the annealing temperature was increased further, degradation of the structural and the optical properties was observed. The reflective index of the ZnO thin films in the UV region increased as the annealing temperature was increased to 700 °C, and n in the visible region decreased with increasing wavelength. The extinction coefficient in the UV and the visible regions decreased as the annealing temperature was increased to 700 °C. However, inflection points in the reflective index and the extinction coefficient were observed with a further increase in the annealing temperature.