Characterization of ZnO Thin Films

ZnO is a strategic material for various photonic applications. We present our results on characterization of thin films of ZnO grown by sol-gel spin and RF sputtering methods. The characterization techniques involved ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. Microstructural characterization of the films using zinc nitrate precursor has delineated many interesting features These morphologies are homogeneous and uniformly distributed on the entire film. The energy dispersive spectroscopic measurements carried out on the both types of morphologies, island and needles, have confirmed that the film composition is ZnO and preserve the crystal symmetry. After the nucleation, the growth lead to preferred crystallographic axes. ZnO is a material of wide ranging application. Not only it finds application in various photonic associated technologies but because of its piezoelectric nature, it can be used effectively as a sensor in variou