DFT Study of the Effect of Temperature on ZnO Adsorbed on α-Al2O3(0001) Surface

The adsorption and the growth of ZnO on α-Al2O3(0001) surface at various temperatures were theoretically calculated by using a plane wave pseudopotentials (USP) method based on density functional theory.The average adsorption energy of ZnO at 400, 600 and 800 ℃ is 4.16±0.08, 4.25±0.11 and 4.05±0.23 eV respectively. Temperature has a remarkable effect on the structure of the surface and the interface of ZnO/α-Al2O3(0001). It is found that the Zn-hexagonal symmetry deflexion does not appear during the adsorption growth of ZnO at 400 ℃, and that the ZnO10-10 is parallel with the 10-10 of the α-Al2O3(0001), which is favorable for forming ZnO film with the Zn-terminated surface. It is observed from simulation that there are two kinds of surface structures in the adsorption of ZnO at 600 ℃: one is the ZnO surface that has the Zn-terminated structure, and whose 10-10 parallels the 10-10 of the substrate surface, and the other is the ZnO10-10 //sapphire 11-10 with the O-terminated surface. The energy barrier of the phase transition between these two different surface structures is about 1.6 eV, and the latter is more stable. Therefore,the suitable temperature for the thin film growth of ZnO on sapphire is about 600 ℃, and it facilitates the formation of wurtzite structure containing Zn-O-Zn-O-Zn-O double-layers as a growth unit-cell. At 600 ℃, the average bond length of Zn-O is 0.190±0.01 nm, and the ELF value indicates that the bond of (substrate)-O-Zn-O has a distinct covalent character, whereas the (Zn)O-Al (substrate) shows a clear character of ionic bond. However, at a temperature of 800 ℃, the dissociation of Al and O atoms on the surface of the α-Al2O3(0001) leads to a disordered surface and interface structure. Thus, the Zn-hexagonal symmetry structure of the ZnO film is not observed under this condition