Effect of substrate temperature on residual stress of ZnO thin films prepared by ion beam deposition

We have investigated the effect of substrate temperature on micro-structural properties of ZnO thin films prepared by ion beam deposition technique. ZnO thin films were deposited on AlN-buffered Si (111) and sapphire (001) substrates at various substrate temperatures. The structural properties and surface morphologies were examined by high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The RMS roughness was measured by atomic force microscopy. XRD measurements confirmed that the ZnO thin films were grown well on the AlN-buffered Si (111) and sapphire (001) substrates along the c -axis. Minimization of residual stress was carried out by tuning the substrate temperature. The structural properties were notably improved with increasing substrate temperature.