


Volume 20 No 10 (2022)
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Structural, optical and surface modifications by varying precursor concentrations on spray deposition of ZnO thin films
E.S. Rajalekshmi , V. Anslin Ferby , R. Shabu , A. Moses Ezhil Raj
Abstract
Zinc Oxide thin films have been deposited on glass substrates using zinc acetate as starting
precursor at different concentrations 0.05 - 0.3 M in steps of 0.05M by spray pyrolysis method at the
constant substrate temperature of 350ºC. Lattice structure of the prepared ZnO films were
characterized by X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Diffraction pattern revealed hexagonal wurtzite
structure with cell edges a=3.2530 Å, c=5.2092 Å and density 5.66 g/cm3
, which is almost equal to the
standard values a=3.2556 Å, c=5.2070 Å and 5.6525 g/cm3
(COD No: 96-900-4180). Structural
parameters such as dislocation density, lattice stress, unit cell volume, number of crystallites per unit
area have been calculated and its dependency with thickness was studied. As the film thickness
increases, the crystallite size also increases.Through FTIR, chemical bonds and their stretching vibrations
confirmedthe metal-oxide phase formation. The optical studies confirmed that the presence of direct
optical transitions and the calculated optical band gap increases from 3.18 to 3.52 eV on increasing the
precursor concentrations. Scanning electron microscope images showed the formation of good quality
film with regularly distributed spherical shaped grains. Roughness values of the films were attained from
the Atomic force microscope images. In overall observations, precursor concentration has significant
effect on film thickness which in turn modified the structural, optical and morphology properties of the
prepared ZnO thin films
Keywords
Structural Analysis, ZnO, precursor concentration, optical properties, Thin films
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