Morphological modification and UV sensitivity enhancement in ZnO:Fe films with a seed layer

In this paper, the effect of the ZnO seed layer on the growth of Fe-doped ZnO (FZO) film has been investigated. Both the film and seed layer have been deposited by the spray pyrolysis technique. FZO film without the seed layer shows flower-like due to particle agglomeration. The addition of the seed layer (FZO/ZnO) changes the morphology into nanorods. This shape is promising due to the higher surface-to-volume ratio, as compared to film structure. The nanostructures also affect the increase of optical bandgap due to the quantum effect of low dimensional crystallite. Moreover, UV sensitivity increases in the FZO/ZnO sample since nanorods have a larger surface-to-volume ratio. This study is essential to improve the functionality of ZnO-based optoelectronics with a fast and simple deposition technique. •Both ZnO seed layer and ZnO:Fe films are fabricated using ultrafast spray pyrolysis for 15 s.•ZnO:Fe films without the seed layer show a flower-like structure.•The addition of the seed layer changes the morphology into nanorods.•UV sensitivity increase in nanorods due to the high surface-to-volume ratio.•The bandgap also increases due to the quantum effect of low dimensional crystallite.