Growth and characteristics of ternary Zn_1-xMg_xO films using magnetron co-sputtering

ZnMgO thin films with different Mg compositions were grown on Si (001) substrates by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering, and their structural and optical properties have been investigated. As the Mg content was increased up to 10 at.%, the surface became smoother and the growth rate decreased. The strong peaks at 34.5-34.7° corresponding to the (0002) diffraction peak of ZnMgO indicated the preferred growth along the c-axis. From the photoluminescence measurements, a shift of the emission peak and an increase of the activation energy were also observed with increasing Mg content.