Effect of Ga-doped ZnO Seed Layer Thickness on the Morphology and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanorods

摘要

Vertically aligned, c-axis oriented ZnO nanorods were grown on sputtered gallium doped zinc oxide seed layers on glass substrates. Morphological, structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods on seed layers of varying thickness have been studied. Morphological features such as diameter and surface roughness of the nanorods were found to depend strongly on the thickness of the seed layer and consequently influence the scattered component in visible transmission and losses due to scattered reflection. The total (specular + scattered) transmittance of nanorods in the visible region decreases by ～ 25%, as the thickness of the seed layer is increased from 100 nm to 500 nm. The increase in scattered transmittance and reflectance are attributed to higher surface roughness of nanorods on thicker seed layers.