Mauricio Pacio

Synthesis of colloidal ZnO nanoparticles and deposit of thin films by spin coating technique

ZnO colloidal nanoparticles were synthesized, the average size of these nanoparticles is around 25 nm with hexagonal form. It was noted that stabilization depends directly on the purifying process; in this work we do not change the nature of the solution as a difference from Meulekamps method, and we do not use any alkanes to remove the byproducts; only a centrifuge to remove those ones was used, thereby the stabilization increases up to 24 days. It is observed from the results that only three times of washing is enough to prevent the rapid aging process. The effect of annealing process on the composition, size, and geometrical shape of ZnO nanoparticleswas studied in order to know whether the annealing process affects the crystallization and growth of the nanoparticles. After the synthesis, the colloidal nanoparticles were deposited by spin coating technique showing that the formed nanoparticles have no uniformly deposition pattern. But is possible to deposit those ones in glass substrates. A possible deposition process of the nanoparticles is proposed.

Structural properties of Zn-ZnO core-shell microspheres grown by hot-filament CVD technique

We report the hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) growth of Zn-ZnO core-shell microspheres in the temperature range of 350-650°C only using ZnO pellets as raw material. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. SEM micrographs showed the presence of solid microspheres and a Zn-ZnO layer in all samples. The observed heterogeneous morphology on each sample suggested two different growth mechanisms. On the one hand, solid microspheres were formed by means of gas phase nucleation of Zn atoms. The Zn-ZnO layer was formed on the substrate as result of surface reactions. It is possible that Zn microspheres condensed during the natural cooling of the HFCVD reactor as they were observed on the Zn-ZnO layer.

Characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films deposited through vacuum evaporation

Summary This work presents a novel technique to deposit ZnO thin films through a metal vacuum evaporation technique using colloidal nanoparticles (average size of 30 nm), which were synthesized by our research group, as source. These thin films had a thickness between 45 and 123 nm as measured by profilometry. XRD patterns of the deposited thin films were obtained. According to the HRSEM micrographs worm-shaped nanostructures are observed in samples annealed at 600 °C and this characteristic disappears as the annealing temperature increases. The films obtained were annealed from 25 to 1000 °C, showing a gradual increase in transmittance spectra up to 85%. The optical band gaps obtained for these films are about 3.22 eV. The PL measurement shows an emission in the red and in the violet region and there is a correlation with the annealing process.

Effect of ZnO Film Thickness on its Optical and Structural Properties

In this study, we report the effect of ZnO film thickness on its optical and structural properties. The sol solution was synthesized by sol-gel method and deposited on silicon substrates by spin coating technique. The ZnO films thickness was varied from 60 to 180 nm. The ZnO films obtained showed a highly preferred orientation along the (002) plane. It was also observed that the crystallite size was not affected by increasing thickness. Transmittance measurements indicated that the ZnO films have a high transparency in the visible range (~90 %), which remained constant with thickness. Morphological evolution measurements confirmed that the thinner ZnO film consist mostly of a porous layer which became homogeneous and compact to increase the thickness. Photoluminescence measurements exhibit a strong ultraviolet (UV) emission, and the emission intensity was improved with thickness due to crystallinity enhancement.

Influence of Mg Concentration on Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties of Epitaxial-Grown Mg-Doped C60 Thin Films

The effect of magnesium doping in C60 films grown on mica was studied. An improvement on the conductivity of the films was observed when the concentration of magnesium was increased. Structural changes were also observed from the diffraction patterns of x-ray at high magnesium concentrations. A new peak in the photoconductivity spectra was observed. This new peak was also attributed to structural changes, which would lead to some changes in the carrier transport properties. The pentagonal pinch Ag(2) mode of the Raman spectra weakened and shifted to lower frequencies when the magnesium concentration increased, which indicates that the C60 molecule cage changed.