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Seeded epitaxial growth of ZnO thin films on MgAl2O4 substrates using the chemical solution deposition method

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Jin Hyeok Kim ,
Boram Kim ,
David Andeen  and
Fred F. Lange
Jin Hyeok Kim*
Affiliation:
Photonic and Electronic Thin Film Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Puk-Gu, Gwangju 500-757, South Korea
Boram Kim
Affiliation:
Photonic and Electronic Thin Film Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Puk-Gu, Gwangju 500-757, South Korea
David Andeen
Affiliation:
Materials Department, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
Fred F. Lange
Affiliation:
Materials Department, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: jinhyeok@chonnam.ac.kr
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Abstract

Epitaxial ZnO thin films were grown on (111) MgAl2O4 with a pre-seeded, two-step chemical solution deposition process. Isolated, epitaxial ZnO islands (seeds) were formed on the substrate in the first step by spin coating a very thin layer of the precursor solution and heat-treating to 950 °C/3 h. In the second step, the seeded substrate was coated with another layer of precursor to produce an epitaxial film. The result was compared with the case in which a MgAl2O4 substrate was not seeded. Both the seeded and unseeded ZnO films have out-of-plane and in-plane orientation relationships of , respectively. However, only the seeded ZnO films have very faceted surface morphology without grain boundaries, indicating epitaxy, whereas the unseeded ZnO films have deep grain boundaries indicative of polycrystalline nature. This result shows that the formation of seeds in the first step plays an instrumental role in the formation of an epitaxial ZnO film.

Keywords

EpitaxyOxideSolution deposition
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , April 2007 , pp. 943 - 949
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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References

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