Growth of well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays on Si substrates by thermal evaporation of Cu-Zn alloy powders

Well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays with uniform diameters and lengths have been fabricated on a Si substrate by simple thermal evaporation of Cu-Zn alloy powders in the presence of oxygen without using a template, catalyst, or pre-deposited ZnO seed layer. The ZnO nanorods are characterized by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the growth mechanism is suggested. The nanorods have a single-crystal hexagonal structure and grow along the (0001) direction. Their diameters range from 200 to 400 nm and the lengths are up to several micrometers. The photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectra disclose the optical properties of the products. The PL spectra show intense near-band ultraviolet emission at 378 nm from the nanorod arrays. The well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays have a low turn-on field of 6.1 V/microm, suggesting good field emission properties. The simple synthesis methodology in conjunction with the good field emission and optical properties make the study both scientifically and technologically interesting.