Structural Evolution of ZnO:Ga Thin Film on Profiled Substrate Grown by Radio Frequency Sputtering

Recently, Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-structures have been received attractive attention because of their outstanding optical and electrical properties. It might be a promising material considered for applications to photonic and electronic devices such as ultraviolet light emitting diode, thin film transistor, and gas sensors. ZnO nano-structures can be typically synthesized by the VLS growth mode and self-assembly. In the VLS growth mode using various growth techniques, the noble metal catalysts such as Au and Sn were used. However, the growth of ZnO nano-structures on nano-crystalline Au seeds using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering might be explained by the profile coating, i.e. the ZnO nano-structures were a morphological replica of Au seeds. Ga doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) nano-structures using this concept were synthesized and characterized by XRD, AFM, SEM, and TEM. We found that surface morphology is drastically changed from initial islands to later sun-flower typed nano-structures. We will present the structural evolution of ZnO:Ga nano-structures with increasing the film thickness.