Hexagonally patterned selective growth of well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays

An effective approach is demonstrated for the growth of aligned ZnO nanorod arrays on a large-scale hexagonally patterned ZnO/Si substrate. The synthesis of ZnO nanorods was carried out by solution growth method at low temperature. The as-grown ZnO nanorods have uniform shape and length, aligned vertically on the substrate and are distributed according to pattern defined by conventional lithography. Besides this, we succeeded to grow nanorods in a nano-sized (500 nm) circular pattern within the hexagonal pattern. It demonstrates the capability of this technique for the selective area growth of nanostructures. Structural analysis reveals that the ZnO nanorod arrays are single crystalline in nature and grown along c-axis direction. The cathodoluminscence spectrum showed two peaks, sharp ultraviolet and broad visible emission at 380 and 585 nm, respectively. This approach opens the possibility of creating patterned one-dimensional nanostructures for different applications like sensor, piezoelelctric, and optoelectronic devices. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.