Influence of Seed Layer on Surface Morphology of ZnO Thin Films Grown by SILAR Method

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured seed layer was grown by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method on glass substrate. The as-prepared nanostructured seed layer was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) for its structure and surface morphology. XRD results showed a ZnO seed layer growth oriented along the (100) direction. Study of surface morphology showed ZnO nanocrystal clusters with hexagonal shape. ZnO nanorods (NRs) have been grown over the as-prepared ZnO nanostructured seed layer by immersing seed layer substrate in a chemical bath. It has been found that the morphology of the nanostructured seed layer is a key influencing factor for the growth of vertical ZnO NRs. In our growth method, we were successful in growing vertical NRs with diameter of about 100–240[Formula: see text]nm with perfect hexagonal shape. The transmittance studies were carried out to analyze the optical bandgap of the as-grown ZnO nanorods.

Effect of film thickness on the electrical and the photocatalytic properties of ZnO nanorods grown by SILAR technique

“…In figure 3(b1) and (b2), the distribution of flower-like structures of ZnO products is shown to be restricted for a film thickness of ≈150 nm. Increasing the film thickness to 330 nm results in the growth of perfect hexagonal shaped nanorods as shown in figure 2(c1) and (c2) [63].This demonstrates the feasibility of generating an aligned array of ZnO nanorods through an in situ deposition method that is comparable to the commonly employed intricate techniques [64]. The effect of film thickness on the surface morphology of nanostructured ZnO thin films has been investigated in several studies.…”

“…Another study by Carra et al [66] demonstrated that the deposition parameters could be adjusted to obtain ZnO films with various morphologies, such as columnar structures. Ali et al [64] investigated the effect of cobalt doping on the surface morphologies of ZnO thin films and discovered that the grain size, crystal population, morphology, film thickness, and crystallinity varied with different dopant concentrations.…”