Transparent zinc oxide films chemically prepared from aqueous solution

Transparent ZnO films were chemically deposited on nonconductive glass from aqueous solutions containing zinc nitrate and dimethylamine-borane (DMAB) kept at 323 K. The dependence of the deposition rate of the ZnO films on the DMAB concentration was established. The deposited films were characterised in terms of XRD patterns, thickness and optical transmission spectra. The ZnO films had a wurtzite structure and exhibited an optical bandgap energy of 3.3 eV which is characteristic of ZnO. A 0.2 micron thick ZnO film with an optical transmittance of 80% was deposited by immersion for approximately 20 min in an aqueous solution containing 0.05 mol/l zinc nitrate and 0.05 to 0.1 mol/l DMAB. 9 refs.