Dependence of the structural and optical properties on the zinc nitrate concentration in ZnO nanowires formed on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrates

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy images showed that ZnO nanowires were formed on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrates by using an electrochemical deposition method and that the deposition efficiency of ZnO nanowires increased with increasing Zn(NO3)(2) concentration. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the ZnO nanowires had the Wurzite structure. Photoluminescence spectra at 300 K for ZnO nanowires formed with Zn(NO3)(2) concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mM showed that the full widths at half maximum of the near band-edge emission PL peak for ZnO nanowires formed with a Zn(NO3)(2) concentration of 1.0 mM had the smallest value, indicative of the best crystalline quality. These results indicate that the structural and the optical properties of ZnO nanowires are improved by changing the Zn(NO3)(2) concentration.