Growth of highly oriented ZnO films by the two-step electrodeposition technique

Compact and transparent ZnO films were deposited on the ITO/glass substrates from zinc nitrate aqueous solution by the two-step electrodeposition technique. While the first potentiostatic step was used to produce ZnO seed layer, the ZnO film growth has been done galvanostatically. Effects of the potentiostatic parameters on the crystal structure, morphology and optical properties of ZnO films were investigated. Results show that ZnO films with highly c-axis preferred orientation can been obtained when the potentiostatic deposition at −1.2 V for 15 s has been applied. Such an observation might be attributed to the etching process of ITO substrate in the diluted HCl solution. The film exhibits smooth and compact morphology, high transmittance in the visible band (>80%) and sharp absorption edge (at ∼370 nm). The analysis on the growth mechanism indicates that the short potentiostatic process prior to the film growth can produce ZnO seed layer and substitute the initial nucleation process in the conventional one-step galvanostatic deposition, thus increasing the nucleation density and preventing the formation of loose structures.