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Initial growth behavior and resulting microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial ZnO thin films on sapphire (0001) substrates

We have investigated the initial growth behavior and resulting microstructural properties of heteroepitaxial ZnO thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition on sapphire (0001) substrates. High-resolution x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the initial growth behavior and the microstructure of the films significantly depend on the growth parameters. ZnO films grown at 700 oC with 20 mTorr O2 partial pressure initiated with a columnar growth mode and contained two kinds of domains. These domains were in-plane orientated either ZnO[112-0]//Al2O3[101-0] or ZnO[101-0]//Al2O3[101-0], and were surrounded by highly defective domain boundaries with threading dislocations. The films grown at 800 oC with 1 mTorr O2 showed 2-dimensional layered growth with only one in-plane epitaxial relationship, ZnO[112-0]//Al2O3[101-0]. Most of the defects in the layered grown films were basal plane stacking faults near the interface between ZnO and the substrate. The formation mechanism of the 30o-twisted domains with the in-plane orientation of ZnO[101-0]//Al2O3[101-0] is discussed.