Pulsed laser deposition of zinc oxide

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. A pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at 355 nm wavelength was used to vaporize a polycrystalline ZnO target and consequently deposit it onto a nearby glass substrate set at a high temperature of 250 °C. The depositions were done under background pressure of 10 − 7 Torr and with ambient oxygen pressure of 50 mTorr and 100 mTorr. X-ray diffraction (XRD) scans of the samples indicated that ZnO were deposited predominantly in the [002] orientation. Photoluminescence spectrum showed an emission at 339 nm. The thickness and roughness of samples were measured using X-ray reflectivity and confirmed with atomic force microscopy. The thickness and roughness were determined to be 45.8 nm and 3.5 nm, respectively.