ZnO nanowire co-growth on SiO2 and C by carbothermal reduction and vapour advection

N. C. VEGA; R. WALLAR; JORGE CARAM; G. GRINBLAT; M. TIRADO; R. R. LAPIERRE; D. COMEDI

NANOTECHNOLOGY

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2012 vol. 23 p. 1 - 11

0957-4484

Vertically aligned ZnO nanowires (NWs) were grown on Au-nanocluster seeded amorphous SiO2 films by the advective transport and deposition of Zn vapours obtained from the carbothermal reaction of graphite and ZnO powders. Both the NW volume and visible-to-UV photoluminescence ratio were found to be strong functions of, and hence could be tailored by, the (ZnO+C) source-SiO2 substrate distance. We observe C flakes on the ZnO NW/SiO2 substrates which exhibit short NWs that developed on both of their sides. The SiO2 and C substrates/NW interfaces were studied in detail to determine growth mechanisms. NWs on Au seeded SiO2 was promoted by a rough ZnO seed layer whose formation was catalyzed by the Au clusters. In contrast, NWs grew without any seed on C. A correlation comprising three orders of magnitude between the visible-to-UV photoluminescence intensity ratio and the NW volume is found, which results from a characteristic Zn partial pressure profile that fixes both O deficiency defect concentration and growth rate.