Large-scale growth of tin oxide fabricated fractals

Fractals are structures that have intricate geometries and are commonly found in nature. By controlling the growth conditions conducive for fractal growth, a very simple and novel technique to grow tin oxide (SnO2) fabricated fractals (fab-fracs) under lab environment is reported. This pulsed microwave-assisted sol-gel synthesis technique yielded growth on a large-scale glass substrate of 5-inch diameter. The fab-fracs being reported here have geometries varying from rhombohedral to fern-like to sword-like shape. The fab-fracs exhibited a fractal dimension ranging from 1.52 to 1.85. The SnO2 fab-fracs showed turnon field equal to 12.6 and threshold-field of 15.6 V/mu m, respectively at current densities of 1 and 10 mu A/cm(2). For 20.4 V/mu m applied field, an emission current density of 30 mu A/cm(2) was obtained. These fab-fracs exhibited a field-enhancement factor of 450 cm(-1), which is attributed to the sharp facets of the fractal geometry. This paper shows the growth of fractals in different geometries and discusses the growth mechanism in detail. The synthesis technique is versatile and can be used to grow other fractal and multi-dendritic structures also. Fractals belong to the subset that follows complex growth mechanisms involving self-organization and non-equilibrium thermodynamic conditions, which if understood, can lead to newer growth techniques in material science. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

This study reports a simple and novel technique to grow fractal structures with intricate geometries under lab environment. The fabricated fractals show excellent optoelectronic properties and have potential applications. The growth mechanism is discussed and the technique is shown to be versatile for growing other fractal and multi-dendritic structures.