Zinc oxide, ZnO , a popular semiconductor material with a wide band gap (3.37 eV) and high binding energy of the exciton (60 meV), has numerous applications such as in optoelectronics, chemical/biological sensors, and drug delivery. This project aims to (i) optimize the operating conditions for growth of ZnO nanostructures using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and (ii) investigate the effects of coupling radiofrequency (RF) plasma to the CVD method on the quality of ZnO nanostructures. First, ZnO nanowires were synthesized using a home-made reaction setup on gold-coated and non-coated Si (100) substrates at 950 °C. XRD, SEM, EDX, and PL measurements were used for characterizations and it was found that a deposition duration of 10 minutes produced the most well-defined ZnO nanowires. SEM analysis revealed that the nanowires had diameters ranging from 30-100 mm and lengths ranging from 1-4 µm. In addition, PL analysis showed strong UV emission at 380 nm, making it suitable for UV lasing. Next, RF plasma was introduced for 30 minutes. Both remote and in situ RF plasma produced less satisfactory ZnO nanostructures with poorer crystalline structure, surface morphology, and optical properties due to etching effect of energetic ions produced from plasma. However, a reduction in plasma discharge duration to 10 minutes produced thicker and shorter ZnO nanostructures. Based on experimentation conducted, it is insufficient to conclude that RF plasma cannot aid in producing well-defined ZnO nanostructures. It can be deduced that the etching effect of energetic ions outweighed the increased oxygen radical production in RF plasma nanofabrication.
Nanofabrication using home-made RF plasma coupled chemical vapour deposition system