Comparative study on the growth characteristics of ZnO nanowires and thin films by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)

Growth characteristics of well-aligned ZnO nanowires and ZnO films by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition were compared. From the estimations of the in-plane residual stress by X-ray diffraction, it was suggested that substantial level of compressive mismatch stress promotes the nucleation of ZnO nanowires. Further examinations of the growth conditions and their correlation with growth modes observed in electron microscopy implied that ZnO nanowire growth is favored by low amount of source supply and high growth temperature. Photoluminescence spectroscopy showed that nanowires have better optical qualities possibly due to the improvement in the crystalline quality by downsizing. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.