Structural transition from MgZnO nanowires to ultrathin nanowalls by surface separation: growth evolution and gas sensing properties

This paper reports a spontaneous method of controlling the growth mode from vertically arrayed ultra-slim MgZnO nanowires to nanowalls through the in-plane random motion of the seed crystals formed by surface phase separation. Seed crystals with a relatively Zn-rich phase were formed by the simultaneous injection of Mg and Zn and became strongly networked when the Zn/Mg flux ratio was increased at high temperatures, leading to the formation of MgZnO nanowalls on various conducting substrates. The hydrogen sensing performance of the MgZnO nanowalls with a two-dimensional network structure was superior to that of the one-dimensional MgZnO nanowires. Based on the microstructural characterizations, the growth procedure for the structural transition from MgZnO nanowires to nanowalls on the Si substrates was proposed.