Cation-mediated effects on zinc oxide films formed by chemical bath deposition

Crvstalline ZnO films with a densely packed morphology were grown on a silicon oxide (SiOx) glass substrate by chemical bash deposition (CBD) in an aqueous-solution bath containing magnesium nitrate [Mg(NO3)(2)center dot 2H(2)O] used as a cation-mediation compound. zinc nitrate [Zn(NO3)2 center dot 6H(2)O], and dimethylarnineborane (DMAB) at 65 degrees C. Grains of ZnO films grown in nonmediated solution preferentially grew on the (002) plane. In the cation-mediated-solution bath, the films were compressed into a compact morphology by the increased tendency for films to grow in the (002) prefer orientation. The crystalline ZnO film exhibits good optical transmittance of over 90%. Additionally, the direct band-gap value was 3.22 eV, which is less than 3.38 eV, which was obtained using a nonmediated-solution bath. This was due to the lattice constant variation caused by cation mediation.