Preparation and Characterization of ZnO thin Films by Sol-gel Method on Glass Substrates

In this work, nano-crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film was synthesized using the sol-gel method. The thin film was deposited on a glass substrate at 50°C by using zinc nitrate, methanol, ethanol, polyvinyl alcohol with a magnetic stirrer device and a hot plate. Each deposited thin film annealed in the microwave oven at 200°C. The structure of the prepared thin film was examined by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). The Shearer formula was used to calculate the size of the film granules. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the surface morphology. UV-VIS measurement was also carried out to study optical properties of a sample by recording transmittance and reflectance data in the range 300 to 700 nm wavelength. All the tests confirmed the existence of a thin layer of ZnO on the glass substrates.