The effects of magnetic field on pulsed laser deposition of Mg-doped ZnO thin films

Mg-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on Si surfaces by laser ablation of a Zn:Mg target to shed light on the effects of magnetic field in pulsed laser deposition. Both crystalline and photoluminescence properties of the Mg-doped ZnO film were dramatically enhanced by performing laser ablation under transverse magnetic field at room temperature. The ablation wavelength turned out to be crucial to bring about optimum effects of the magnetic field on the laser-induced plasma plume. Besides, cylindrically phase-separated polystyrene-b-poly(methylmethacrylate) employed as a template facilitated fabrication of bandgap-engineered ZnO nanodot arrays.