Low-temperature synthesis and growth mechanism of ZnO nanorods on crystalline Si substrate

Single crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods have been grown on Si (100) substrates by a hydrothermal method at 65 °C. In order to show the habit of crystalline growth and applied these ZnO 1D to the electron radiation. The ZnO nanorods grown on Si (100) have been characterized in detail using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The XRD studies revealed that the ZnO nanowires showed the wurtzite structure (hexagonal). The Secondary Electron SEM image showed different morphology of the ZnO nanorods as a function of the reagents concentration. These nanorods have uneven tops and showed an apparent screw growth pattern with a typical hexagonal facets structure on the (0001) surface. The spiral growth step morphology strongly suggests that screw dislocations can play a significant role in promoting the ZnO nanorods growth and that the screw dislocation is growing in the polar axis of the ZnO nanorods. The ZnO nanorods were irradiated with electron beam (30 kV) for 100 minutes. We observed that the one-dimensional (1-D) ZnO nanorods were resistant to the electron radiation. This finding is interesting because, we can use these 1-D ZnO nanorods to development materials which can be resistant to radiation.