Effect of Fe ion beam irradiation on structural, surface, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by radio frequency sputtering

In this work, ZnO thin films were exposed to 80 keV Fe+1 ions at different fluences (1 x 1013, 1 x 1014, 5 x 1014, 1 x 1015 ions/cm2 ). With the help of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), and the four-point probe technique, we were able to measure the structural and surface morphology, optical, and electrical properties of both untreated and irradiated ZnO thin films. X-ray diffraction research showed that crystallite size was diminished from its pristine level with the fluence of 1 x 1013 ions/cm2 , but that crystallite size increased along with the ion fluence, resulting in higher levels of crystallinity in the thin films. SEM images of a ZnO thin film exposed atthe fluence of 5 x 1014 ions/cm2 revealed acicular patterns on its surface. The electrical resistivity of ZnO thin film decreases as the fluence of ion increases. Consistency between the findings supports the idea that the observed behavior is due to the confined heating effect generated by ion irradiation of the thin films.