Effect of Seed Layer Morphology on the Growth of Zinc Oxide Nanotetrapods by Thermal Chemical Vapour Deposition Method

Abstract

We investigated the growth of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotetrapods on a crystallized ZnO seed layer. The seed layer was deposited by RF magnetron sputtering and etched by HF solution before the deposition of ZnO nanotetrapods by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The HF etching was done to roughen the seed layer surface to facilitate the nucleation sites for the nanostructures growth. We found that the shapes of the nanostructures on the HF-etched seed layers and those on un-etched seed layer are different, in which the nanostructures on the etched layers are in the form of plates with needles grown at the edge, whereas the nanostructures on the un-etched layers are in the shape of typical nanotetrapods. This is believed to be the result of different growth mechanisms associated with the different conditions of the growth surface.