Studies on Zinc Oxide Nanorods Grown by Electron Beam Evaporation Technique

Nanocrystalline zinc oxide-thin films have drawn the attention of researchers due to its attractive properties like transparency in visible region, abundance in nature and gas sensitivity. Nanostructured Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were grown on silicon, alumina and glass substrates at various substrate temperatures using a 6 kW electron beam evaporation technique. The effects of film thickness, growth temperature and substrate on the crystallinity of deposited ZnO films were investigated using X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, optical absorption and photoluminescence studies. Our studies show that good quality films are obtained for silicon substrate for a growth temperature of 250°C. Film thickness plays an important role on the evolution of the nanostructures. SEM studies combined with XRD analysis reveal that ultrathin nanorods are grown with (002), (101) and (102) orientations. All the ZnO films show room temperature photoluminescence emission bands at 394 nm and 468 nm. Optical absorption studies show strong absorption at 377 nm. Details of the structure and optical properties correlation will be presented and potential of a simple technique such as e‐beam deposition to grown ZnO nanostructures suitable for optoelectronic application will be assessed.

Keywords:

• zinc oxide
• nanorods
• XRD
• SEM
• electron beam evaporation technique