Structural and Morphological Characterization of ZnO thin Films Synthesized by SILAR

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates from ammonium zincate complex as cationic precursor following SILAR (Successive ion layer adsorption and reaction) technique. Characterization techniques of XRD, HRSEM, TEM, EDX and FTIR were utilized for detailed microstructural studies of the coated films. A comparison of physical properties of the films was made from those deposited from other zinc complexes as cationic precursor. Particle size analysis using x-ray line broadening analysis shows an average particle of 22.75 nm for ZnO film. Both instrumental and strain broadening was taken into account while estimating the particle size. The value agrees well with 25.8 nm obtained from TEM measurement. Films are highly c-axis oriented with a texture coefficient value of ~2.29 for (002) plane. EDX spectrum indicates that the film consist of zinc and oxygen elements. The characteristic stretching vibration mode of ZnO was observed in the absorption band in FTIR spectrum. Film with best homogeneity, compactness, highest c-axis orientation and least crystallite size was obtained from ammonium zincate complex.