Growth of Well-Aligned ZnO Nanorods Using AuGe Catalyst by Vapor Phase Transportation

Well-aligned ZnO nanorods have been achieved using new alloy (AuGe) catalyst. Zn powder was used as a source material and it was transported in a horizontal tube furnace onto an AuGe deposited Si substrates. The structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. ZnO nanorods grown at 650 °C on 53 nm thick AuGe layer show uniform shape with the length of 8±0.5 μm and the diameter of 150±5 nm. Also, the tilting angle of ZnO nanorods (±5.5°) is confirmed by HRXRD. High structural quality of the nanorods is conformed by the photoluminescence measurement. All samples show strong UV emission without considerable deep level emission. However, weak deep level emission appears at high (700 °C) temperature due to the increase of oxygen desertion.