Influence of gas atmosphere during growth interruption in the deposition of ZnO films by magnetron sputtering

In the growth of ZnO films using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, the effects of the injected ambient gas during the temperature elevation and the in-situ thermal annealing after the growth of the low-temperature buffer layers on the optical and structural quality were investigated. The introduction of inert gases such as argon and nitrogen as the ambient gases during the thermal treatments of the buffer layers led simultaneously to the reduction of full-width at half maximum (FWHM) value in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curve and the improved emission properties, compared to the samples using oxygen gas. Also, the use of inert gases caused a decreased tilting of the grains and the peak shift of the deep-level emission from the yellow region to the green region.