Structural, Morphological, Optical, Luminescent and Magnetic Properties of Nanostructured ZnO Thin Film

Abstract

ZnO thin film deposited on the glass substrate at various substrate temperature by spray technique using perfume atomizer. The deposited ZnO thin films are annealed at 450ºC. The deposited films are highly transparent and adhered to the substrate. The structure and microstructural, morphological, compositional, optical and luminescent characteristics were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM with EDX), Atomic force microscope (AFM), Ultra violet visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis) and photoluminescence spectroscopic techniques. The crystalline nature of annealed film were confirmed from XRD and the shows preferred orientation along (1 0 1) plane. At higher substrate temperature, reorientation of planes was seen. The spherical shaped grains are observed from morphological studies. The roughness of ZnO film, one of the key parameter obtained from AFM, increases with substrate temperature. The high transparency of about 80% in visible region are obtained for ZnO film with band gap ranging from 3.24 – 3.19 eV. The presence of defects in ZnO films are identified from PL bands. The electronic vibrations in ZnO film were understood from Raman spectra. The weak ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature is observed and exchange interactions stemming from oxygen vacancy produce BMP and subject to RTFM in ZnO.