ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the study of highly doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures grown in organic solvents at moderate temperatures. A reason for such variations is found in the fact that most of the solution-growth methods operate out of thermal equilibrium. Synthesis in organic solvents is advantageous in that it allows substrate-independent, template-free synthesis of nanostructures as well as higher doping efficiencies for electronic or dilute magnetic semiconductor applications. The importance of structural characterization of doped ZnO has long been a topic of interest. Solution-based syntheses provide a low-cost, scalable route to fabrication of ZnO nanostructures for a variety of optoelectronic applications. A more stable intermediate will result in slower growth kinetics, allowing the reaction more time to approach thermodynamic equilibrium. Gradients in dopant incorporation within individual nanostructures can be observed with techniques like Auger electron spectroscopy or a transmission electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy.
