Growth of ZnO Nanorods on Different Seed Layer Thickness Using the Hydrothermal Method for UV Detection

Seed layer thickness effect on the growth of zinc oxide nanorods was investigated in the present work. The Zinc oxide seed layer for nanorods growth was deposited using RF sputtering on a SiO2/Si substrate. The surface morphology of the zinc oxide thin films was studied by Atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Zinc oxide nanorods were then grown on two types of seed layer (50 nm and 100 nm) by hydrothermal method. Density, dimension, surface morphology, elemental composition of zinc oxide nanorods was found to be varied with zinc oxide seed layer, as observed using Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. To identify the application of zinc oxide nanorods and effect of seed layer on their photodetection capability, a metal-semiconductor-metal photoconductor was fabricated using shadow mask and thermal evaporation methods. Ultraviolet light of different wavelengths were exposed to the device and current-voltage characteristics was observed using semiconductor parameter analyzer. It was found that seed layer over which nanorods grown affected the light detection capacity of the device.