Growth mechanisms of thin-film columnar structures in zinc oxide on p-type silicon substrates

Abstract

X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the crystallinity of (0001)-oriented columnar grains in ZnO thin films grown on p-Si (100) substrates is enhanced with increasing growth temperature, and transmission electron microscopy confirms that the columnar structures become more stable at higher growth temperature. The morphological evolution of the columnar structure in ZnO thin films is described on the basis of experimental measurements.