Effect of Post-Deposition Annealing on RF-Sputtered Catalyst-Free Grown ZnO Nanostructures

Catalyst-free zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-structures were synthesized on silicon (100) substrate by radio frequency sputtering. The as-deposited films were post-annealed at 200°C, 400°C, 600°C, and 800°C. The effects of annealing temperature on the structural, morphological and optical properties of these nanostructures were investigated using x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectroscopic ellipsometry. XRD showed c-axis-oriented growth with the increase in crystallinity at the higher annealing temperature of these ZnO nanostructures. The crystallite size calculated using Scherrer’s formula in the XRD data was found to increase with the annealing temperature. AFM images confirmed the growth of grains at higher annealing temperatures. Optical band gaps of these ZnO nanostructures were calculated using reflectance spectra in the ultraviolet–visible region and found to decrease from 3.19 eV to 3.09 eV as the annealing temperature increased from 200°C to 800°C. The decrease in band gap may be attributed to the decrease in oxygen vacancies at higher annealing temperatures and may be useful for different applications.