Synthesis of epitaxial layers of zinc oxide on nonorienting substrates

The first experiments on the growth of single-crystal layers of zinc oxide on nonorienting substrates (crystalline leucosapphire and fused quartz) by chemical transport reactions in a reduced-pressure flow-through reactor in a hydrogen atmosphere is reported. To ensure autoepitaxy on a surface of a nonorienting substrate, an optimized intermediate layer of zinc oxide of thickness 200-1000 Angstrom, which provides a texture of basal orientation regardless of the orienting properties of the substrate, is preliminarily deposited by magnetron sputtering. It is shown that the subsequent growth of layers on such a surface by a chemical transport reaction to a thickness of 1-5 ensures high structural perfection, uniformity, and a very smooth surface, while polycrystalline films are deposited on the portion of the surface without a buffer layer. The proposed method can be used to grow heteroepitaxial structures and other electronic materials on nonorienting substrates using chemical transport reactions. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(99)02711-7].