POST-ANNEALING EFFECTS ON THE STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF RF SPUTTERED ZNO THIN FILMS

Abstract

The present experimental study investigates the influence of post-annealing in air environment for 90 minutes on the crystal structure, thickness and root mean square (RMS) surface roughness of RF-sputtered ZnO thin film on silica glass substrate. It was found that the as-deposited film exhibits amorphous phase and RMS surface roughness of 5.81 nm with sputtering parameter of 150 W, 50 mTorr, 96% Ar and 4% O2. Meanwhile, annealed film at 400 oC shows diffraction peaks at ( 0 0 2 ) and ( 0 1 1 ) planes with slightly decreased RMS surface roughness of 3.24 nm. The thickest film with a value 209.72 ± 4.54 nm obtained after annealing is suitable for gas sensing application.