Self-assembled three-dimensional Al-doped ZnO nanorod networks

Abstract

Al-doped ZnO nanorod networks and other microstructures have been grown by a thermal evaporation–deposition method with a mixture of ZnS and Al_2O_3 powders as precursor. Some of the grown structures consist of star-like arrays of nanorods arranged around a central axis with nearly four-fold symmetry. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations indicate that these arrays are the origin of large well-ordered three-dimensional networks of nanorods resulting from the perpendicular growth of lateral branches in every nanorod. CL in SEM has been used to study the influence of Al doping on the emission. Regions with high Al content, about 1 at%, show a luminescence band at about 1.98 eV.