ZnO thin films were grown by the RF magnetron sputtering technique at different substrate temperatures, from RT to 300°C. The crystallite size was calculated from XRD and the grain size was measured from AFM for different substrate temperatures. The influence of the substrate temperature on the electrical properties of the films was investigated through the Hall effect, and conductivity studies were performed under UV light illumination. The conductivity and the carrier mobility of the films were found to increase with increasing substrate temperature, which can be due to the grain-boundary-dominated conduction mechanism. The thermal activation energy and photosensitivity of the films were calculated, and the results are presented in this paper.
