LAUSR

We report an investigation on the effect of oxygen flow rate on the structural and optical properties of zinc oxide thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The structural measurements were carried using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The role of oxygen partial pressure on the crystallinity, the surface morphology and vibrational modes has been established. The optical properties of the films were investigated using FR-Basic-VIS/NIR fitted with FR-Monitor software for film thickness, refractive index and color determination. The film thickness is observed to increase when oxygen is introduced at 4 sccm but eventual decrease with increase in the flow rate an indication of initial increase in rate of deposition followed by reduction. Elaborate explanations of these trends are provided.