Title

Comparative Study Of Hydrothermal Treatment And Thermal Annealing Effects On The Properties Of Electrodeposited Micro-Columnar Zno Thin Films

Keywords

Electrodeposition; Hydrothermal treatment; Photoluminescence; Raman spectroscopy; Thermal annealing; Thin films; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Zinc oxide

Abstract

We report a comparison of the role played by different sample treatments, namely, a low-temperature hydrothermal treatment by hot H2O vapor in an autoclave versus thermal annealing in air on the properties of ZnO films grown by electrochemical deposition (ECD). Scanning electron microscopy studies reveal a homogeneous micro-columnar morphology and changes in the film surface for the two different treatments. It is found that post-growth hydrothermal treatments of ECD ZnO films at 150 °C under an aqueous environment enhance their structural and optical properties (photoluminescence, transmission, Raman spectra, etc.) similar to thermal annealing in air at higher temperatures (> 200 °C). The modifications of the structural and optical properties of ZnO samples after thermal annealing in air in the temperature range of 150-600 °C are discussed. The removal of chlorine from the films by the hydrothermal treatment was evidenced which could be the main reason for the improvement of the film quality. The observation of the enhanced photoluminescence peak at 380 nm demonstrates the superior properties of the hydrothermally treated ZnO films as compared to the films annealed in air ambient at the same or higher temperature. This post-growth hydrothermal treatment would be useful for the realization of high performance optoelectronic devices on flexible supports which might not withstand at high temperature annealing treatments. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reseved.

Publication Date

9-1-2011

Publication Title

Thin Solid Films

Volume

519

Issue

22

Number of Pages

7738-7749

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2011.05.072

Socpus ID

80052112664 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/80052112664

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