Spatially confined light output of a crystalline zinc oxide nanonet laser

A well ordered large-area (>40 mm(2)) crystalline ZnO nanonet on anodic aluminum oxide template was fabricated via a simple approach combining interfacial reaction growth and epitaxial growth. Its optically pumped light output in far field was found to be spatially confined within 5 degrees of its surface normal direction. Theoretical simulation showed that the spatial confinement of the light output was due to the interference and diffraction effects of the periodically aligned air cylinders in the nanonet.