Archives for Technical Sciences | 2026
Authors: Ahmed A.Q.; Zgair I.A.; Alkhayatt A.H.O.
DOI: 10.70102/afts.2026.1835.264
Journal: Archives for Technical Sciences
Year: 2026
Publisher: Technical institute of Bijeljina
Document Type: Article
Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access
Cited by: 0
The successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) process was used to form Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films on glass substrates, and deposition cycles of 5, 15, 20, and 25 were used to investigate the effect of the number of cycles on the structural and optical characteristics of the film. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) was determined to be a polycrystalline structure of ZnO, having the hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferential orientation of the (100) plane. The size of the grain and crystallinity increased with the number of deposition cycles, and the density of dislocations reduced, which implies better quality of the film. The UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to determine the optical properties of the material, such as the optical band gap and absorbance. The findings indicated that the optical band gap was different in the range of 3.67 eV to 3.81 eV, with the largest band gap found in the 20-cycle sample. The absorbance reduced with an increase in the cycle number, indicating improved scattering and grain boundary effects with increasing number of cycles. The movies proved to be more transparent as the cycles were increased, and thus can be applied in the field of optoelectronics, where solar cells and light-emitting devices can be used. SILAR has emerged as an economical approach to prepare ZnO thin films and has provided an easy and effective methodology to regulate the film thickness and quality. The research also gives important information on the depositional cycle as it affects the characteristics of ZnO films, which is important in the optimization of ZnO thin films for different technological uses. Further research to improve the performance of the film, such as the refinement of the deposition parameters and the possibility of incorporating the films into the real world, such as solar cells, sensors, and transparent conductive layers, will be undertaken in the future. © 2026, Technical institute of Bijeljina. All rights reserved.
deposition cycles; grain size; optical band gap; optical properties; silar method; structural characterization; ZnO thin films