Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Oxidation of Granulated Zn

Abstract

The thermal evaporation technique was used to deposit the zinc (Zn) films on Si(111) substrates. ZnO thin films were obtained in an inexpensive and simple way by thermally oxidizing granulated Zn films at 900 °C in air for 1 hour without any catalyst. ZnO thin films have a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The structural and optical characteristics of ZnO thin films samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL). PL measurements revealed that the near band edge peak of ZnO samples was blue shifted.