Structural, optical, and electrical modification of hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods by tin-doping

Abstract

ZnO nanorod has been a material of interest in numerous electronic applications. Here, ZnO nanorods were grown on a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate with a spray-pyrolysis deposited seed layer via a low-temperature hydrothermal method, and the effects of tin-doping on structural formation, optical and electrical properties were explored. The XRD result confirmed the formation of ZnO wurtzite phase without secondary phases; however, the different preferential growth orientations were observed as tin dopants were added. The result was consistent with the surface morphology examined by SEM showing that the ZnO nanorod structure was likely to become a plate-like structure when Sn content increased. Moreover, increasing Sn doping content also resulted in a blue shift in bandgap energy and electrical conductivity enhancement. The results suggest that the incorporation of Sn ion in the ZnO structure can tailor its preferential growth orientation and morphology potentially leading to the performance improvement of electronic devices.