Structural properties of sputtered ZnO:Au films

ZnO: Au films have been obtained by a reactive rf magnetron sputtering method using pure Zn and Au targets. Layers with a Au- to- Zn ratio of up to 0. 71 have been deposited. They were analysed by Rutherford back- scattering spectroscopy, elastic recoil detection analysis, transmission electron microscopy, high- resolution electron microscopy, selected- area electron diffraction, X- ray diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The only crystalline phase found for all investigated Au concentrations was that of ZnO. We conclude that some of the Au enters as interstitial atoms in the compact hexagonal lattice of ZnO being bonded with any three O atoms of the structure and the other part forms an amorphous hydrated gold oxide that coexists with the ZnO crystallites.