Effects of boron concentration in ZnO:Al seed films on the growth and properties of ZnO nanorods

Boron-doped ZnO:Al films were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering. The structural and optical property variations of the films with the boron amounts were studied. ZnO nanorods were grown on SiO2/Si wafers and glass by a hydrothermal method. ～50 nm-thick boron-doped ZnO:Al films were deposited on the substrates as seed layers. The mixed solution of zinc nitrate hexahydrate and hexamethylenetetramine in DI water was used as a precursor for ZnO nanorods. The concentration of zinc nitrate hexahydrate and that of hexamethylenetetramine were 0.05 mol, respectively. ZnO nanorods were grown at 90 °C for 2 hours. X-ray diffraction was conducted to observe the crystallinity of ZnO nanorods. A field emission scanning electron microscope was employed to study the morphology of nanorods. Optical transmittance was measured by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and photoluminescence was carried out with 266 nm light. The ZnO nanorods grown on the 0.5 wt% boron-doped ZnO seed layer showed the best crystallinity. Copyright The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers.