ZnO(101) films by pulsed reactive crossed-beam laser ablation

We have employed pulsed reactive crossed-beam laser ablation (PRCLA) to deposit a (101) oriented ZnO film. In this method, a supersonic jet of oxygen pulse is made to cross the laser plume from a zinc metal target while being carried to the Si(111) substrate. The obtained deposit was nanocrystalline ZnO as confirmed by a host of characterization techniques. When the substrate was held at varying temperatures, from room temperature to 900°C, the crystallinity of the obtained films increased as expected, but importantly, the crystallographic orientation of the films was varied. High substrate temperatures produced the usual (001) oriented films, while lower substrate temperatures gave rise to increasingly (101) oriented films. The substrate held at room temperature contained only the (101) orientation. The film morphology also varied with the substrate temperature, from being nanoparticulate to rod-like deposits for higher deposition temperatures. Surprisingly, the (101) orientation showed reactivity with acetone forming carbonaceous nanostructures on the surface.