Ultrafast UV Luminescence of ZnO Films: Sub‐30 ps Decay Time with Suppressed Visible Component

Abstract Ultrafast sub‐100 picosecond luminescence is vital in many applications involving ultrafast events and time‐of‐flight systems. Materials exhibiting fast luminescence, such as barium fluoride (BaF₂) and zinc oxide (ZnO), also suffer from an intrinsically slow nanosecond (ns) to microsecond (µs) luminescence. Here, 2.2 micrometer (µm)‐ to 5.7 µm‐thick undoped ZnO films on soda‐lime glass (SLG) substrates without a buffer layer by a hybrid pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering operating in the medium‐frequency range (MF magnetron) assisted by an electron cyclotron wave resonance (ECWR) plasma is deposited. The undoped ZnO films exhibited superior optical properties characterized by intense ultraviolet (UV) luminescence, unprecedented ultrafast decay times, and for the case of MF+ECWR‐deposited films, suppressed defect‐related visible luminescence. The 2.2 µm‐thick MF‐deposited film exhibited the fastest 9‐ps decay time at room temperature. The impressive properties of the films are attributed to the use of advanced deposition technology with properly tuned plasma parameters, especially a high degree of dissociation of molecular oxygen together with an increased proportion of activated zinc particles, leading to a higher deposition rate, better crystallinity, fewer defects, and a lower proportion of oxygen vacancies. These films will pave the way toward the development of time‐of‐flight detectors, high‐resolution nuclear imaging cameras, and high‐rate ultrafast timing devices.