Influence of Substrate Temperature on the Structure and Electric Properties of ZnO Films

ZnO films were deposited on glass substrates by gas discharge reaction evaporation. The influences of substrate temperature on the surface morphology, crystal structure and electric properties of ZnO films were studied by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and complex impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the films with dense and amorphous structure and lower grain boundary resistance were deposited at room temperature. When the substrate temperature is higher than 50 ℃, the films with certain c-axis orientation can be deposited. With the increase of the substrate temperature, the preferential orientation of ZnO films along c-axis is augmented, the tensile stress along c-axis orientation decreases and the grain boundary resistance increases in a marked degree. When the substrate temperature is higher than 100 ℃, the increasing trend of the preferential orientation of ZnO films along c-axis slows down. ZnO films possess high preferential c-axis orientation and best crystalline quality at 180-200 ℃. These possess a smooth surface, symmetrical grain dimension (i.e. 30-40 nm), inerratic crystal shape, less tensile stress and 0.965 epitaxial degree along the c-axis direction. Here the grain boundary effect increases and the grain boundary resistance is evidently more than that of the films deposited at room temperature. The mechanism by which substrate temperature affects crystal structure and grain boundary properties were also discussed.