Synthesis of zinc oxide films in glow discharge of various configurations

The structure of zinc oxide (ZnO) films deposited on silicon substrates using dc glow discharge in oxygen have been studied for two electrode configurations—with tubular (hollow) and planar cathodes. At a substrate temperature of 670 K and oxygen pressure of 0.5 Torr, ZnO films synthesized in the hollow cathode geometry possess a columnar structure, while those obtained in the planar geometry are continuous. A decrease in the oxygen pressure from 0.5 to 0.2 Torr in discharge with the hollow cathode geometry leads to a change from a columnar to continuous film structure, while the morphology of films obtained in the planar geometry remains unchanged. The synthesized films exhibit a high degree of crystallographic orientation [001] ZnO ‖ [001] Si with complete azimuthal disorientation in the plane of film conjugation with the substrate.