Fabrication of GaN nanowires and nanorods catalyzed with tantalum

Single-crystalline GaN nanowires and nanorods have been fabricated through ammoniating Ga₂O₃ films catalyzed with tantalum (Ta) by RF magnetron sputtering, and microstructure, morphology and optical properties were investigated in particular. The results indicate that the nanowires have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with size about 50 nm in diameter and more than ten microns in length, however, the nanorods are rod-like structures with smooth surface and 100–300 nm in diameter. The growth direction of these nanostructures are perpendicular to the (100) crystal plane. The photoluminescence spectrum at room temperature exhibits a strong UV light emission band centered at 364 nm.