Atomically abrupt heteronanojunction of ZnO nanorods on SiC nanowires prepared by a two-step process

Abstract

A two-step process was developed to prepare a direct heteronanojunction of ZnO nanorods on SiC nanowires, using a simple heating method and metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). First, an SiC nanowire substrate was prepared by heating NiO catalysed Si wafer at 1050 degrees C. Subsequently, diethylzinc was used as metal-organic source to grow ZnO nanorods on SiC nanowires at 450 degrees C. High-resolution TEM images showed that the heteronanojunction has an atomically abrupt interface with no interfacial layers formed between ZnO nanorods and SiC nanowires. The epitaxial relationship between ZnO nanorods and SiC nanowires was ZnO[000 I] perpendicular to SiC [ I I I].