Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
In this paper, we present a detailed study of high quality (110) ZnO films, epitaxially grown on R-plane sapphire substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The epitaxial relationships are (1120) ZnO//(0112) Al2O3 and {0001} ZnO//[0111] A12O3 as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (θ-2θ, and φ-scan) and high-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) indicates the ZnO thin films are almost strain free. Optical absorption and reflection measurements with linearly polarized light indicate a strong optical anisotropy. The polarization rotation towards the C-axis associated with the optical anisotropy is utilized to demonstrate an optically addressed ultra-fast, ultraviolet light modulator.