Photoluminescence Properties of Zinc Oxide Film with Local Epitaxial Growth on Silicon Using Aluminum Nitride Buffer Layer

In this work, we report the preparation of zinc oxide (ZnO) film with local epitaxial growth on silicon substrate at room temperature using aluminium nitride (AlN) as buffer layer.ZnO and AlN films were deposited by RF and DC magnetron sputtering, respectively.The microstructures of c-axis oriented ZnO films deposited on (100) Si and AlN/Si substrates were studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction.In addition, the effect of AlN buffer thicknesses (600 and 1400 nm) on photoluminescence properties of 400 nm thick ZnO deposits were also studied.Indeed, the deposition of ZnO on AlN buffer leads to a red shift of the band gap emission of ZnO compared to ZnO deposited without buffers.Moreover, the defects emission intensities and nature were also affected.The evolution of ZnO PL properties due to AlN buffer insertion is discussed with respect to the difference in the structural properties of ZnO film with and without AlN buffers.