Electrochemical deposition of zinc oxide on a thin nickel buffer layer on silicon substrates

► Cyclic voltammograms of ZnO electrochemical deposition. ► Parameters of ZnO electrochemical deposition in potentio- and galvanostatic modes. ► Crystalline structure of electrochemically deposited continuous ZnO films. ► Photoluminescence properties of ZnO films deposition current density dependence. Electrochemical deposition of ZnO from aqueous nitrate solutions on nickel and platinum electrodes was investigated using the voltammetry technique to determine the optimal regimes in both potentiostatic and galvanostatic modes for acquiring polycrystalline ZnO films. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and X-ray microanalysis of the formed ZnO films are presented, showing a polycrystalline structure of the ZnO films with a preferable orientation in the (0 0 0 2) direction and an exact stoichiometric composition. The deposited ZnO films demonstrate a strong visible yellow-greenish photoluminescence at room temperature with a maximum at 600 nm that can be referred to crystal lattice oxygen defects. The maximum of the photoluminescence excitation spectrum at 370 nm corresponds to the band gap of ZnO (3.3–3.35 eV) confirming that band-to-band excitation mechanism takes place.