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Electrochemical growth and characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films

C. GHICA1,* , I. ENCULESCU1, L.C. NISTOR1, E. MATEI1, G. VAN TENDELOO2

Affiliation

  1. National Institute of Materials Physics, 105 bis Atomistilor, 077125 Magurele, Romania
  2. University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerpen, Belgium

Abstract

ZnO is a wide band-gap (ca. 3.4 eV) semiconductor, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, biocompatible, transparent in the visible spectrum and UV light emitting material. The fabrication in 2001 of the first nanobelts of semiconductor oxide materials lead to a rapid expansion of researches concerning one dimensional nanostructures (nanotubes, nanowires, nanobelts), given their possible application in optics, optoelectronics, piezoelectricity, catalysis. Researches carried on up to date evidenced the possibility to obtain an extraordinary variety of ZnO nanostructures, in function of the experimental parameters and the used growth methods. In this work we present morphostructural results on nanostructured ZnO layers obtained by electrochemical deposition. The films have been grown on gold covered glass plates and Si wafers, in various experimental conditions such as: nature of the wetting agents, electrical polarization of the substrate (continuous, pulsed). The influence of the growth conditions on the crystalline structure and morphology of the films is revealed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies. The films show a variety of growth morphologies, from entangled-wires-like to honeycomb-like layers. These large-specific-surface layers will be tested as nanostructured substrates for photovoltaic cells with improved efficiency..

Keywords

Electrochemical deposition, SEM.

Submitted at: Sept. 15, 2008
Accepted at: Dec. 10, 2008

Citation

C. GHICA, I. ENCULESCU, L.C. NISTOR, E. MATEI, G. VAN TENDELOO, Electrochemical growth and characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 10, Iss. 12, pp. 3237-3240 (2008)