Investigation of dip coated ZnO thin film : X - ray reflectivity and Fourier analysis

: In this study we fabricated Zinc Oxide thin film by sol-gel dip coating method on glass substrate. X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and its optimization have been used for characterization and extracting physical parameters of the film. Genetic Algorithm (GA) has been applied for this optimization process. Independent information was exploited from Fourier transform of Fresnel reflectivity normalized X-ray reflectivity. The Auto Correlation Function (Fourier transformation of X-ray reflectivity) yields thickness of each coated layer on substrate. This information is a starting point for constructing optimization process. Specular X-ray reflectivity optimization yields structural parameters such as thickness, roughness of surface and interface and electron density profile of the film. Acceptable agreement exists between results obtained from Fourier transformation and X-ray reflectivity fitting. [Ghahraman Solookinejad. Investigation of dip coated ZnO thin film: X-ray reflectivity and Fourier analysis. Journal of American Science 2011;7(6):293-298]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience.org.