EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURE ON STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF ZINC ALUMINUM OXIDE THIN FILMS PREPARED BY DC REACTIVE MAGNETRON SPUTTERING TECHNIQUE

Zinc Aluminum Oxide (ZAO) thin films were prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering on glass substrates and the effect of substrate temperature (from 303K-623K) on the structural and optical properties were studied. XRD patterns of ZAO thin films deposited at different substrate temperatures exhibit (0 0 2) preferential orientation with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. SEM images of Zinc Aluminum Oxide thin films shows the grains are spherical in shape with an average grain size of similar to 0.4-1 mu m. Optical parameters such as absorption coefficient (alpha), extinction coefficient (k) and optical band gap (E-g) were determined from the transmission data. The absorption coefficient values are in order of 10(6)cm(-1). The extinction coefficient value of the films varies from 0.02 to 0.08. The direct optical band gap (E-g) value of ZAO thin films are found to be in the range of 3.17-3.43eV.