ZnO/sapphire by RF Magnetron sputtering deposition

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films with thickness around 200 nm were deposited on sapphire substrates by RF magnetron sputtering deposition method from an ultra pure ZnO solid target. The substrate temperature was varied from room temperature to 800~$^{\circ}$C and the resulting films were annealed in a rapid thermal processor in N$_{2}$ gas. Analyses carried using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that films deposited at 500~$^{\circ}$C using Ar:O$_{2}$ (1:1) had the best crystalline qualities. This film had a luminescence peak at 3.35 eV with a full-width-half maximum (FWHM) value of 24 meV when measured at 10 K. The X-ray 2$\theta$-scan had a peak at 41.7$^{\circ}$ with a FWHM value of 0.096$^{\circ}$. The results from our attempts to dope the films to p-type will be presented.