Oxidation Temperature Effects on ZnO Thin Films Prepared from Zn Thin Films on Quartz Substrates

We investigated the structural and optical properties of the ZnO thin films formed by oxidation of Zn thin films. Zn thin films were deposited by thermal evaporation and were then annealed from 300 to 800 degrees C to prepare ZnO thin films. We found that ZnO thin films were formed by thermal oxidation of Zn thin films at oxidation temperatures over 400 degrees C. The grain size of ZnO thin films increased with the oxidation temperature and the highest ZnO (002) intensity was obtained at 600 degrees C. In the PL spectra, the intensity of the near-band-edge peak increased with the oxidation temperatures until 400 degrees C. However, these values gradually decreased with a further increase in the oxidation temperatures over 400 degrees C. The transmittance of the ZnO thin films was more than 90% for the visible wavelength region, and the optical band gap was red-shifted with increase in the oxidation temperature.