1. Photo-patternable ZnO thin films based on fast crosslinking of zinc acrylate and acrylic acid for optical and electrical applications.
- Author
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Zhou, Mingxiang, Samu, Shakespear Takudzwa, Deng, Min, Wei, Bo, Lu, Yunqing, and Wang, Jin
- Abstract
The UV polymerization method is an efficient method to fabricate zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. So far, this method is mainly based on the self-polymerization of zinc-based monomers, followed by annealing. However, the self-polymerization usually leads to long polymerization times, irregular morphologies of the product, and reaction wastes. To address these issues, the novel fabrication process and recipe to form ZnO films are proposed. This proposal uses zinc-based monomers and their solvent (acrylic acid) collectively as reactants in the polymerization process. The cross-linking between them significantly reduces the polymerization time to a few seconds without the reaction waste, and leads to a well-defined surface morphology of the zinc-based precursor film. The structures, morphologies and optoelectric properties of the ZnO films annealed at different temperatures are characterized. The results show that the ZnO nanocrystals exhibit a hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure. The ZnO films exhibit an average transmittance as high as 98% in the visible spectrum, and the optical bandgaps of 3.24–3.29 eV. The electrical performance of the film is strongly correlated with the oxygen vacancies content, leading to the highest carrier concentration and the lowest electrical resistivity of 4.09 × 10
−1 Ωcm at the annealing temperature of 450 °C. Highlights: Photo cross-linking between zinc acrylate and its solvent (acrylic acid) is induced The polymerization process is short in time and does not generate reaction wastes The zinc-based precursor films have a well-defined surface morphology The ZnO films exhibit a high average transmittance (>98%) in the visible spectrum The ZnO film annealed at 450 °C shows a low electrical resistivity of 4.09 × 10−1 Ωcm [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
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