Investigation of tailored planar defects arising from ZnO tetrapods doped with In2O3

•The controlled growth of In2O3-doped ZnO tetrapods with bamboo shape legs in terms of planar defects is achieved.•We do observe unambiguously the indium ions are successfully get incorporated into the ZnO lattice for the first time.•Planar defects arising from In2O3-doping were observed by HRTEM.

4 mol% In2O3-doped ZnO tetrapods with bamboo shape legs (in terms of planar defects) have been grown controllably by thermal evaporation of Zn and In2O3 mixed source. It is found that the indium oxide dopants can get incorporated into the ZnO lattice to form O–In bonds, which are confirmed by X-ray photo-electron-spectroscopy (XPS) and the high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The detailed electron microscopy studies indicate that the structures of In2O3-doped ZnO tetrapods have the planar defects such as stacking faults and twins. The formation of the planar defects might be attributed to the high strain in the crystal caused by In2O3-insertion.