Structural Properties of ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Spray Pyrolysis Method

Abstract

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared on corning (7059) glass substrates by Spray Pyrolysis technique. The deposition was carried out at room temperature after which the samples were annealed in Nitrogen atmosphere at temperatures of 300°C and 400°C. The structural properties of ZnO thin films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD analysis of the films showed that thin films are characterised by the appearance of (002) and (101) diffraction peaks. The intensity of the peaks was observed to increase with annealing temperature. The values of the lattice constants, a and c agree strongly with International centre for diffraction data (ICDD). Furthermore, the structural parameters such as micro-strain, dislocation density, full width at half maximum (FWHM) and grain size were found to be dependent on annealing temperature. Therefore the annealing effects on the structural properties of ZnO thin film will be useful for the formation of ZnO-based hetero-structure for application in fabrication of optoelectronic and other photovoltaic devices