Synthesis of ZnO nanowires on Ti/glass substrates by DC magnetron sputter deposition

Abstract

One-dimensional (1-D) zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures, such as ZnO nanowires and nanorods, have in recent years attracted a lot of attention due to their many unique properties and possibility that can be applied to various nanoscale functional devices. In this study, ZnO nanowires have been successfully synthesized on Ti/glass substrates by an DC magnetron sputter deposition technique. Deposition of ZnO using this technique generally leads to the formation of ZnO thin film but not of nanowire. So prior to the ZnO deposition, a Cu labyer was prepared on the Ti/glass substrate using an electroless plating method under different conditions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that the ZnO nanowires with wurtzite structures have high crystal quality and are c-axis orientated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the diameters of nanowires normally range from 60 to 150 nm and their lengths reach 20 μm. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were adopted to analyze the optical properties of the nanowires. The existence of an electroless Cu layer is critical for the growth of the ZnO nanowires. In addition, the effect of the Cu deposition conditions on the diameters and lengths of the ZnO nanowires is discussed in details.