Low temperature (<100 °C) patterned growth of ZnO nanorod arrays on Si

Micropatterned growth of ZnO nanorod arrays on silicon substrates using a low temperature aqueous method is demonstrated. ZnO nanocrystals were used as seeds for producing well-aligned, wurtzite ZnO nanorod arrays with spin coating. The shape of the ZnO nanorods was sensitive to the orientation of substrate as well as the molar composition of the chemical precursors. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate the effect of the substrate orientation on the crystal structure of the patterned grown ZnO nanorod arrays, showing that growth on (100) Si was faster than on (111) Si, with the nanorods growing preferentially in the < 001 > direction. Photoluminescence of the patterned ZnO nanorod arrays showed good optical quality with near band-edge emission at 3.24 eV, showing the promise of this approach for micropatterned optical device applications using low temperature synthesis and the conventional lithography. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.