ZnO growth by chemically assisted sublimation

Abstract Residual water present in gases or gaseous mixtures such as H 2 , Ar or H 2 + H 2 O is shown to act as sublimation activator of the vapour phase transport of ZnO. The thermodynamic constants of the water activated sublimation are determined through close spacing vapour transport experiments using a theoretical model. The variation of the growth rate as a function of temperature is found to be not linear. Finally, some optical and structural properties of the layers are studied and compared to those of bulk crystals. No photoluminescence emission that could be attributed to HO or O 2 are detected.