SOL GEL BASED ZINC OXIDE THIN FILMS USING PROGRAMMABLE DIP COATING APPARATUS

摘要

Zinc Oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrates by the so! gel method using a PC [LPT port] controlled dip-coating apparatus of new design. In this apparatus, the actuator is moved by a direct and simple screw-drive mechanism.. Very finely controlled translatory motion had been made possible by virtue of some skillful engineering. This ensured very smooth and jerk-free operations. The movement is through a stepper motor. A C++ program had been used during the developmental stages to run the stepper motor. The graphical programming language, LabVIEW, had been used during the actual experiment and lends itself to easy modification. Zinc acetate dehydrate, as a zinc precursor, and absolute ethanol, as a solvent, were used for the synthesis. The film thickness was measured using Multiple Beam Interference method (MBI). The dependence of thickness on dipping rate and the number of dippings were found to conform to expected type. The adhesion of the films to the substrate was checked with scotch-tape stripping test.