Growth Kinetic and Characterization of RF‐Sputtered ZnO:Al Nanostructures

ZnO:Al nanostructures with 1% by mole of Al were prepared by radio frequency sputtering on copper and quartz substrates. The ZnO:Al nanostructures obtained exhibited needle‐ or tree‐like structures with the diameter ranging from 30 to 100 nm. It was suggested that these ZnO:Al nanostructures could be single‐crystalline hexagonal structures growing along the direction with branching along the 〈0001〉 direction. From Hall measurement, ZnO:Al nanostructures had a resistivity in the order of 10 −2 Ω·cm, a carrier concentration of 10 20 cm −3 , and a Hall mobility of 3 cm 2 ·(V·s) −1 . From X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Raman results, ZnO:Al nanostructures had direction perpendicular to the surface, whereas ZnO nanobelts had the c ‐axis perpendicular to the surface. In addition, the growth mechanism of the wire and belt‐like nanostructure could be explained by kinetics of anisotropic growth via a vapor–solid mechanism. This information would be useful for further applications of ZnO:Al nanostructures.