Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Luminescent and Scintillation Properties of Thick ZnO Films Fabricated by Sputtering of a Hot Ceramic Target

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a comprehensive study of the structural-phase composition, morphology, optical, luminescent, and scintillation characteristics of thick ZnO films fabricated by magnetron sputtering. By using a hot ceramic target, extremely rapid growth (~50 µm/h) of ZnO microfilms more than 100 µm thick was performed, which is an advantage for the industrial production of scintillation detectors. The effects of post-growth treatment of the fabricated films in low-temperature plasma were studied and a significant improvement in their crystalline and optical quality was shown. As a result, the films exhibit intense near-band-edge luminescence in the near-UV region with a decay time of 550 nm) green-yellow emission originates mainly from bulk parts of the films.

Keywords

• ZnO
• thick films
• plasma treatment
• scintillator
• X-ray luminescence
• photoluminescence