title: Nucleation, Growth Mechanism, and Controlled Coating of ZnO ALD onto Vertically Aligned N-Doped CNTs.
abstract: Zinc oxide thin films were deposited on vertically aligned nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) by atomic layer deposition (ALD) from diethylzinc and water. The study demonstrates that doping CNTs with nitrogen is an effective approach for the "activation" of the CNTs surface for the ALD of metal oxides. Conformal ZnO coatings are already obtained after 50 ALD cycles, whereas at lower ALD cycles an island growth mode is observed. Moreover, the process allows for a uniform growth from the top to the bottom of the vertically aligned N-CNT arrays. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrates that ZnO nucleation takes place at the N-containing species on the surface of the CNTs by the formation of the Zn-N bonds at the interface between the CNTs and the ZnO film.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering, CICECO, University of Aveiro , 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.|Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering, CICECO, University of Aveiro , 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.affiliation: Materials Metrology Division, INMETRO , 25250-020, Duque de Caxias, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.affiliation: Materials Metrology Division, INMETRO , 25250-020, Duque de Caxias, RJ, Brazil.|Programa de Engenharia Metalurgica e de Materiais, COPPE-UFRJ Rio de Janeiro , CP68501, 21945 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Achete
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clavel
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering, CICECO, University of Aveiro , 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pinna