Structural and optical properties of DC magnetron sputtered ZnO films on glass substrate and their modification by Ag ions implantation

This work is focused on investigating the effects of deposition time and Ag ions implantation on structural and optical properties of ZnO film. The ZnO film was prepared on glass substrate by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of pure Zn target in reactive oxygen environment for 2 h, 3 h, 4 h and 5 h respectively. X-ray diffraction results revealed polycrystalline ZnO film whose crystallinity was improved with increase of the deposition time. The morphological features indicated agglomeration of smaller grains into larger ones by increasing the deposition time. The UV-vis spectroscopy analysis depicted a small decrease in the band gap of ZnO from 3.36 eV to 3.27 eV with increase of deposition time. The Ag ions implantation in ZnO films deposited for 5 h on glass was carried out by using Pelletron Accelerator at different ions fluences ranging from 1 x 10(11) ions cm(-2) to 2 x 10(12) ions cm(-2). XRD patterns of Ag ions implanted ZnO did not show significant change in crystallite size by increasing ions fluence from 1 x 10(11) ions cm(-2) to 5 x 10(11) ions cm(-2). However, with further increase of the ions fluence, the crystallite size was decreased. The band gap of Ag ions implanted ZnO indicated anomalous variations with increase of the ions fluence.