Ultraviolet emission properties of ZnO film with zinc deficiency by SS CVD

A–b axis orientation ZnO film on silicon (1 0 0) substrate has been prepared by a single source chemical vapor deposition technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that the film was very close to stoichiometry but with a small amount of zinc deficiency. Temperature-dependent (10–300 K) ultraviolet photoluminescence of the film was presented. Comparing the photon energy separation of the several groups in the near band edge ultraviolet luminescence bands, as well as the variation of the relative intensities and the shift of the luminescence lines at different temperatures, free-, bound-exciton and its assisted phonon emission were observed, which corresponded to the mechanism of the ultraviolet emission properties. A strong ultraviolet emission resulting from the recombination of free-exciton was observed at 300 K photoluminescence spectrum examined in atmosphere environment. Contrasted to the relatively weak ultraviolet emission of the film in vacuum, atmosphere environment was found to be an important contribution to the strong ultraviolet emission of the film.