In this report, the structural and optical properties of sol-gel derived MgxZn1-xO thin films upon changes in the composition and annealing temperature were investigated. The Mg2+ content and the annealing temperature were varied in the range of 0≤x≤0.35 and 400˚C≤T≤600˚C, respectively. The films exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite structure of a polycrystalline nature. The optical transmittance exceeded 85% and the optical band gap of the film was tuned as high as 3.84 eV at a value of x = 0.35 (annealed at 400˚C), which was evidently the maximum Mg2+ content for the single-phase polycrystalline MgxZn1-xO thin films prepared in this experiment. The optical band gap and photoluminescence emission were tailored to the higher energy side while maintaining crystallinity without a significant change of the lattice constant.

The effect of annealing under argon atmosphere on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films deposited at room temperature and 300˚C using Radio Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering has been investigated. For the films deposited at room temperature, there was not any increase in hydrogen content and optical band gap of the films, and as a result, quality of the films was not improved under any annealing conditions. For the films deposited at 300˚C, on the other hand, significant increases in hydrogen content and optical band gap were observed, whereas values of microstructure parameter and dark conductivity were decreased upon annealing below 300˚C. In this study, it was proposed that the Si-HX bonding strength is closely related to deposition temperature. Also, the improvement in optical, electrical and structural properties of the films deposited at 300˚C was originated from thermally activated hydrogen bubbles, which were initially trapped at microvoids in the films.