Colloidal templating for producing hollow ZnO shells: Fabrication, growth and electrical properties

Colloidal templating and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) have been combined to fabricate arrays of ordered two-dimensional hollow ZnO shells. Templates were formed by spin-coating colloidal solutions containing monodispersed polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) beads. The optimum condition for forming templates of ordered two-dimensional geometry was deduced by calculating the radial distribution functions. On templates ZnO films were deposited by a PLD method. Upon annealing ZnO films crystallize into a würtzite structure. The surface morphology of hollow ZnO shells consists of protruding columnar nano-crystallites with no distinct ZnO texture. The electrical properties were measured as a function of annealing temperature. The electrical conductivity increases with increase in annealing temperature. The activation energy was estimated to be 0.7 eV. The change in the electrical properties upon grain growth has been attributed to alteration in the fraction site availability for defect formation at the grain boundaries.