Fabrication and electrical properties of micro/nanoporous ZnO ∶ Al films

Abstract

Micro/nanoporous ZnO ∶ Al films were fabricated through the pyrolytic transformation of AlCl₃-added layered hydroxide zinc acetate (LHZA) self-templates. Formation of the self-templates on glass substrates was achieved on the basis of heterogeneous nucleation and crystal growth that proceeded in a chemical bath composed of zinc acetate dihydrate, aluminium chloride hexahydrate, and methanol, kept at a small degree of supersaturation. The LHZA self-templates had a nest-like morphology with interlaced sheet-like particles. Pyrolysis of the template films at low temperatures resulted in the formation of ZnO without microstructural deformation. The electrical resistance of the ZnO films exhibited minimum values when aluminium was added to the chemical bath at concentrations around 0.5 at.%. These results suggest that we achieved successful Al-doping of micro/nanoporous ZnO films.