ZnO-Thin Film Growth Processes: Correlation Between the Structural Properties of Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) and Water (H₂O) Solution Effect Using Innovative Electrostatic Spray Deposition (ESd) Technology

This study carefully examined the influence of 0.005 M and 0.015 M HCl on the ZnO growth mechanism, implementing the solution-dependent ESD technique across a temperature range of 300 °C, 400 °C, and 500 °C, respectively. The ESD technique uses zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) as a precursor, which is dissolved in ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH) at a concentration of 0.1 M to generate a zinc complex molecule. ESD was used for six distinct prepared solutions on a conductive In₂O₃:Sn (ITiO) coated alkali-free glass substrate in order to explore the impact of varying the water (H₂O) ratio in the spray solution on the HCl. XRD depictions showed that the ZnO nanoparticles had a pristine wurtzite crystal structure. The microstructure properties (MSP) of ZnO thin films were analysed to understand the microlevel changes resulting from the ESD growth mechanism. Specifically, the lattice parameter ratio (c/a), positional parameter (µ), and bond length (L (Å)) were assessed. The XRD pattern demonstrated the predominant alignment of the (002) crystal planes in ZnO thin films. This work signifies an important phase in using cost-efficient ESD-deposited semiconductor applications in commercial and industrial uses.