SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ZNO THIN FILMS DEPOSITED BY CHEMICAL BATH TECHNIQUE

I. Nkrumah, F.K. Ampong, B. Kwakye-Awuah, R.K. Nkum, F. Boakye

Abstract: ZnO thin films have been deposited on silica glass substrate using the chemical bath deposition technique. The precursors used were zinc chloride and aqueous ammonia. The solution was stirred continuously with the help of a magnetic stirrer at a bath temperature of 70 oC and a deposition time of 70 minutes. The elemental composition and the surface morphology were studied using energy dispersive and scanning electron microscopy. The band gap was 2.72, 2.66, 2.60 eV for as-deposited, annealed at 200 oC and 300 oC respectively. There was a red shift in the band gap energy as the annealing temperature was increased. This might be due to an improvement in the crystallinity of the ZnO thin films

Keywords: Zinc oxide, chemical bath, band gap, annealing

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2013.0212135