Effects of Sn doping on the growth morphology and electrical properties of ZnO nanowires

This study examines the effects of doping ZnO nanowires (NWs) with Sn on the growth morphology and electrical properties. ZnO NWs with various Sn contents (1-3 at.%) were synthesized using the vapor-liquid-solid method. Scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy analyses showed that all of the Sn-doped NWs grew in a bamboo-like morphology, in which stacking faults enriched with Sn were periodically inserted. We fabricated a hybrid film of InZnO sol-gel and Sn-doped ZnO NW networks to characterize the effects of Sn doping on the electrical properties of the NWs. With increasing doping density, the carrier concentration increases significantly while the mobility decreases greatly. The resistivity remains scattered, which suggests that Sn doping in ZnO is not an effective method for the enhancement of conductivity, since Sn does not readily incorporate into the ZnO structure.