Stimulated emission in highly (0001)-oriented ZnO films grown by atomic layer deposition on the amorphous glass substrates

Highly oriented zinc oxide (ZnO) films accompanied by stimulated emission have been fabricated on amorphous alkaline earth boro-aluminosilicate glass substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD). By introducing a buffer layer which was deposited at a high temperature of 300°C and followed by postdeposition rapid thermal annealing at 800°C, ZnO films with the (0001) preferred orientation could be grown by ALD upon the buffer layer at a low temperature of 150°C. Photoluminescence exhibited a dominant near-band-edge spontaneous emission at 380 nm and a negligible defect-related band. Optically pumped stimulated emission around 395 nm with a threshold intensity of 38.1 kW/cm ² was observed at room temperature, which is ascribed to the good optical and crystal quality of the ZnO films grown by the ALD technique on the amorphous glass substrates.