Highly textured zinc oxide films by room temperature ion beam assisted deposition

A new ion beam assisted sputter deposition technique has been developed which facilitates room temperature fabrication of thin ZnO films with exceptional structural order. The well-defined texture of these films is comparable to films deposited at elevated temperatures of typically 200-300 degrees C in standard sputter processes. Structural investigations reveal that the applied Xe+ ion bombardment mainly affects the nucleation of ZnO crystallites. The high structural order of the nucleation layer is maintained in subsequent stages of film growth. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim