Preparation and proposed mechanism of ZnO Nanostructure Thin Film on Glass with Highest c-axis Orientation

Abstract

In this paper, ZnO thin film is deposited on slide glass substrate using the sol-gel process. Presenting well-defined orientation of ZnO thin films Nanostructure were obtained by dip coating of zinc acetate dihydrate, monoethanolamine (MEA), de-ionized water and isopropanol alcohol. The annealed ZnO thin films were transparent ca 85-90% in visible range with an absorption edges at about 375 nm. The morphologies and phase structure show that the ZnO/glass film is formed by a layer of ZnO nano-sized particles with average diameter of 40 nm. X-ray diffraction results showed polycrystalline wurtzite with a highest c-axis preferential (002) orientation with the only sharp X-ray diffraction peak at 34.40 corresponding to the hexagonal ZnO. The high c-axis orientation improved and the grain size increased by the annealing temperature. These results showed that the sol-gel deposited ZnO films have potential applications such as catalyst and transparent electrodes in optic and electronic devices.