Fabrication of ZnO micro- and nano-structures by electrodeposition using nanoporous and lithography defined templates

We report in this work the fabrication of ZnO nanowires and nano-pillars by electrodeposition using three types of micro- and nano-structured templates. First, ZnO nanowires were synthesized in a nanoporous polycarbonate template and their morphology and monocrystalline structure were checked by conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques. The optical properties of the monocrystalline ZnO nanowires were also studied by measuring the photo-fluorescence spectra of the sample. Then, the micro-structured template was made by optical lithography and the electrodeposited ZnO micro-rods were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Finally, UV-nanoimprint templates were used for the fabrication of regular ZnO nano-pillar array. SEM images showed quite homogenous ZnO nano-pillar array on which the collective I–V characteristic has been carried out in order to determine the nature of the Au/ZnO contact. SEM images also revealed an effect of size increase of the ZnO micro-rods and nano-pillars with respect to that of the PMMA template. XRD patterns showed the hexagonal Wurtzite crystalline structure with cell parameters slightly larger than the literature ones.