Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods on porous silicon substrates: Effect of growth time

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were successfully grown on porous silicon (PS) substrates by chemical bath deposition at a low temperature. X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) analyses were carried out to investigate the effect of growth duration (2 h to 8 h) on the optical and structural properties of the aligned ZnO nanorods. Strong and sharp ZnO (0 0 2) peaks of the ZnO nanorods proved that the aligned ZnO nanorods were preferentially fabricated along the c-axis of the hexagonal wurtzite structure. FESEM images demonstrated that the ZnO nanorod arrays were well aligned along the c-axis and perpendicular to the PS substrates regardless of the growth duration. The TEM image showed that the top surfaces of the ZnO nanorods were round with a smooth curvature. PL spectra demonstrated that the ZnO nanorods grown for 5 h exhibited the sharpest and most intense PL peaks within the ultraviolet range among all samples.