Role of ZnO thin film in the vertically aligned growth of ZnO nanorods by chemical bath deposition

Abstract

The effect of ZnO thin film on the growth of ZnO nanorods was investigated. ZnO thin films were sputter-deposited on Si substrate with varying the thickness. ZnO nanorods were grown on the thin film using a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at 90°C. The ZnO thin films showed granular structure and vertical roughness on the surface, which facilitated the vertical growth of ZnO nanorods. The average grain size and the surface roughness of ZnO film increased with an increase in film thickness, and this led to the increase in both the average diameter and the average length of vertically grown ZnO nanorods. In particular, it was found that the average diameter of ZnO nanorods was very close to the average grain size of ZnO thin film, confirming the role of ZnO film as a seed layer for the vertical growth of ZnO nanorods. The CBD growth on ZnO seed layers may provide a facile route to engineering vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays.