Growth and characterization of MgxZn1−xO thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD)

The growth and characterization of Mg x Zn 1− x O thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) technique is reported in this paper. We have grown the thin films of ZnO by adding varying concentrations of magnesium (Mg) on a glass substrate. The precursor from which the Mg x Zn 1− x O thin films were grown was made up of a mixture of zinc acethylacetonate and magnesium acetate tetrahydrate in boiled isopropyl alcohol. Oxygen gas was used as a carrier gas and substrate temperature was maintained at 400°C. Mg x Zn 1− x O thin films were finally characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. XRD results show that Mg x Zn 1− x O thin films displayed a wurtzite structure and addition of Mg leads to a slight shift towards higher 2-theta values. AFM results show that MgZnO thin films were uniformly covered with nano flakes and their size decreases with an increase in Mg content. Optical studies show that with the increase of Mg content, transparency as well energy band gap of the Mg x Zn 1− x O thin films increases, which also agrees with the reported values.