Evolution mechanisms of the surface morphology of grains in ZnO thin films grown on p-InP substrates due to thermal annealing

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, and atomic force microscopy images showed that the columnar structure and the surface morphology of grains in ZnO thin films grown on p-InP substrates were changed due to thermal treatment. The surface morphology variation of the ZnO thin films was attributed to the curvature modification of the subpopulations consisting of ZnO grains. While the top surface of the ZnO grains became parallel with the {0001} planes due to thermal treatment, the curvature of the subpopulations in the ZnO grains became rough. Evolution mechanisms of the surface morphology of ZnO thin films are described.