Orientation Control of ZnO Films Deposited Using Nonequilibrium Atmospheric Pressure N2/O2 Plasma

Nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure N2/O2 plasma was applied to the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of zinc oxide (ZnO) films on glass substrates at the substrate temperature of 200 °C. Although the deposition temperature is very low, the ZnO films showed (0001) preferred orientation including a small amount of diffraction from the (1011) plane. We attempted to improve the (0001) preferred orientation for ZnO films without increasing the substrate temperature. After systematic experiments, we found that adjusting the ratio of the oxygen flow rate in the total gas flow rate [O2/(O2+ N2) ratio] was effective for orientation control of the ZnO films. This result indicates the potential of nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure N2/O2 plasma for the low-temperature CVD process of ZnO films used in piezoelectric devices and transparent thin-film transistors on a flexible substrate.