Thin films of ZnO and high-k oxides are materials with a wide range of technological applications that are extensively studied to optimize their physical characteristics and growth processes. Properties of these oxides have dramatically increased the interest to apply their as insulators in electronic devices, resistance switching materials in semiconductor memories, optical coatings in lasers or microscopes and barrier, compact or active layers in photovoltaic structures. We report on growth of zinc oxide (ZnO), hafnium dioxide (HfO₂), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) thin films on n-Si and amorphous glass substrates using the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technique with all the method-related controls of the growth parameters (growth temperature, pulse length, number of cycles, etc.). The properly selected growth parameters allowed deposition of homogeneous thin films with precisely controlled thickness and low concentration of defects from organic precursors (diethylzinc, tetrakis(dimethylamido)hafnium, trimethylaluminum and tetrakis(dimethylamido)zirconium) as metal precursors and de-ionized water as an oxygen precursor at low temperature in the range of 60–350° C. We studied the effect of growth temperature, number of cycles and post-deposition annealing on growth rate, structural and electronic properties and increase of defect concentration. Crystallization and increasing surface roughening were demonstrated, but were not observed a noticeable growth rate change with increasing film thickness. Our research lead to preparation of good quality thin films with properties as required for transparent electronic and photovoltaic applications.

The research was financially supported by the European Union within European Regional Development Fund  through grant Innovative Economy (POIG.01.01.02-00-108/09) and by the National Science Centre (decision No. DEC-2012/06/A/ST7/00398).

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