Annealing studies on zinc oxide thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

Three annealing techniques for ZnO thin films were studied for modifying electrical properties. The stoichiometry of ZnO has a ratio of ̃ 1:1 at a depth of 100 Å, independent of the annealing method applied. Laser-annealed samples exhibited a larger grain size compared to the other annealing methods and showed an increase in photoluminescence (PL) and a decrease in defects in the ZnO for laser power above 200 mJ/cm ². Metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM-PDs) gave the best responsivity of 606.8 A/W. An SiO ₂ insulator layer (10 to 20 Å) was added between the ZnO and Si to study potential solar cell applications.