Studies of Surface Electrical Properties of Al doped ZnO Nanorods by STM.

Pure and aluminum (Al) doped ZnO (Al:ZnO) nanorods (NRs) were deposited on silicon substrates by the hydrothermal method. The Al composition was kept at 2 % and 5 % for the Al:ZnO NR samples. The surface morphology and structural properties of the pure and Al:ZnO NRs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The XRD study revealed the hexagonal phase of the ZnO with (101), (002) and (100) peaks and it also revealed that the major orientation of ZnO NRs was along the (002) planes. The SEM micrographs showed perfectly grown ZnO NRs with hexagonal shaped tips. The electrical characterization of the pure and Al:ZnO NR thin film surface was done by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Local electron spectroscopy was conducted to measure the tunneling current with respect to the applied bias. The n-type behavior and bandgap of the pure and Al:ZnO NRs were confirmed from the dI/dV -- V characteristics. These studies are of fundamental importance for the fabrication of pure and Al:ZnO NR based nanodevices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]