Surface characterization of ZnO nanorods grown by chemical bath deposition

The surface composition of as-grown and annealed ZnO nanorods (ZNs) grown by a two-step chemical bath deposition method is investigated by the following surface-sensitive techniques: Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). The presence of H on the surface and throughout the entire thickness of ZNs is confirmed by TOF-SIMS. Based on TOF-SIMS results, the O2 XPS peak mostly observable at ~531.5 is assigned to O bound to H. Furthermore, it is found that the near surface region of as-grown ZNs is Zn-rich, and annealing at high temperature (~850 °C) removes H-related defects from the surface of ZNs and affect the balance of zinc and oxygen concentrations.