Surface Morphology Evolution during LP-MOCVD Growth of ZnO on Sapphire

摘要

The morphology evolution of ZnO films grown on sapphire (0001) by MOCVD have been studied as a function of buffer growth time and temperature by means of atomic-force microscope (AFM), x-ray diffractions (XRD) and optical microscopy. When the buffer growth temperature decreased to 450 °C, the surface became smooth greatly, indicating the transition from typical 3D island growth to quasi-2D growth mode. As the buffer growth time exceeds 5min, the micron-sized pit-like features are formed. It is due to the lack of stabilization of adatoms under the "etching" action of ionized O_2/Ar during high temperature buffer annealing.