Growth of ZnO Thin Films on Silicon Substrates by Atomic Layer Deposition

Abstract

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) Offers the Key Benefits of Precise Deposition of Nanostructured Thin Films with Excellent Conformal Coverage. ALD Is Being Used in the Semiconductor Industry for Producing High-k (high Permittivity) Gate Oxides and High-K Memory Capacitor Dielectrics. Zno Has Attractive Properties for Various Applications such as Semiconductors, Gas Sensors and Solar Cells. in this Study, ZnO Thin Films Were Deposited via ALD Using Alternating Exposures of Diethyl Zinc (DEZ) and Deionized Water (H2O) on Silicon Wafer (100). the Thin Films Were Analyzed Using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Ellipsometer and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). the XRD Analysis Shows the Presence of ZnO Thin Films with a Hexagonal Wurtzite Structure. the Thickness of ZnO Thin Films Was Correlated with the Substrate Temperatures and Deposition Cycles. the Coating Thickness Was Found to Increase with the Increase of the Deposition Cycles, but it Decreased with the Increase of Deposition Temperature. the Nucleation and Growth Mechanism of Zno Thin Film Has Been Established. it Can Be Concluded that, the Growth Mechanism of Zno Films Is Strongly Dependent on the ALD Processing Conditions.