Spray angle dependence for the growth of terrace-truncated nanocone structure of gallium-doped zinc oxide by advanced spray pyrolysis deposition technique

Abstract

Rough-surfaced nanocone structures are preferred for use as transparent conductive oxides due to their high optical transparency and electrical conductivity. Structural properties of Ga-doped ZnO terrace-truncated nanocones, which were grown by advanced spray pyrolysis deposition technique, vastly changes with the spraying angle. In the present study, the effect of the spray angle on terrace-truncated nanocone structure formation was investigated. Spray pyrolysis deposition technique was used to grow the nanostructure as the growth rate can be controlled easily. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Optical and electrical properties were investigated by the UV-visible spectrum and four-probe method. The lowest spray angle of 15o showed homogeneous and hexagonal shaped nanocone structure with an average top diameter of 22.8 nm and an average height of 240 nm. An excellent transparent conductive oxide behavior was obtained from the sample synthesized at the lowest spray angle of 15o with high conductivity of 2.5x103 Ω-1. cm-1 and high transparency of 82% in the visible range.