Preparation of ZnO thin films for high-resolution field emission display by electron beam evaporation

The dependence of the structural, photoluminescent and cathodoluminescent properties of ZnO thin films deposited by electron beam evaporation on the preparation conditions has been investigated. Both as-deposited and annealed thin films deposited at substrate temperatures higher than 200 degrees C showed c-axis orientation; and their crystallinity was improved with increasing annealing temperature. The films showed the emission with a peak at around 510 nm in photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) except for the film annealed at 800 degrees C in air. The emission seems to be well-known blue-green emission due to ZnO:Zn phosphor. The strong green emission with a peak at around 540 nm was obtained from the film annealed at 800 degrees C in air. The origin of the emission is not understood. The film showed CL luminance of about 60 cd/m(2) under excitation of 2 kV, 400 mu A/cm(2). Moreover, it showed CL under excitation even at 250 V without charging-up. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.