Room temperature fast synthesis of zinc oxide nanowires by inductive heating

ZnO nanowires have been rapidly synthesized using inductive heating in a room temperature environment. Nanowires with random and aligned orientations were grown on silicon and 4H-SiC (0001) substrates in less than 5 min, respectively, using ZnO/graphite as the solid source powder. Scanning electron microscopy showed nanowire diameters of 20-120 nm and lengths up to 5 mu m, and transmission electron microscopy verified the single-crystalline lattice of the nanowires. Electrical properties were studied by connecting a single ZnO nanowire in the field-effect transistor configuration. This demonstration further illustrates the feasibility of a simple and fast nanoscale synthesis using inductive heating for nanomaterial synthesis. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.