Growth and characterization of ZnO nanostructured thin films by a two step chemical method

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 (0 0 2) oriented ZnO seed layer growth. Surface morphology study revealed the cluster of ZnO nanocrystals with hexagonal shape. ZnO nanorods (NRs) have been grown over the as-prepared ZnO nanostructured seed layer using a simple chemical bath deposition (CBD) method 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 70–150 nm with perfect hexagonal shape. Photoluminescence (PL) and Raman studies were carried out to analyse the crystal quality of our as-grown ZnO nanorods.