Morphology-selected, room-temperature growth of ZnOnanostructures

Abstract

A novel process that allows selective growth of ZnO nanostructure at room temperature is reported. Various zinc oxide nanostructures were grown on nanoparticle-seeded glass substrates using a new, low cost, and low temperature process. The growth took place in a radio frequency magnetron sputter deposition chamber. The growth time required is less than 10 min. The morphology of the obtained zinc oxide nanostructures is precisely controlled by the characteristics of the nanoparticles, which are simply determined by the pH value of the precursor solution used for the synthesis of the nanoparticles. Photoluminescence spectra of the zinc nanostructures show a rare and strong violet emission at 430 nm wavelength, which allows the use of them for stable violet light emitting diodes.