Synthesis of ZnO nanorods by laser ablation of ZnO and Zn targets in He and O-2 background gas

This paper describes the synthesis of nanostructured ZnO crystals by nanoparticle-assisted pulsed-laser deposition (NAPLD), in which nanoparticles formed in the gas phase by the condensation of the ablated species are transported onto the substrate. The influence of the synthesis conditions on the morphologies of the formed ZnO crystals was investigated in detail. ZnO nanorods with a hexagonal- and pyramidal top surface were obtained under limited growth conditions. The most critical process parameter for the growth of ZnO nanorods was gas pressure, whose process window was in the range from 1.0 to 5 Torr.