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Selective lateral ZnO nanowire growth by surface diffusion on nanometer scale–patterned alumina on silicon

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Abstract

Lateral ZnO nanowires (NWs) were selectively grown from the edge of a SiO2/Si–Al2O3–SiO2/Si multilayer structure for potential integration into devices using Si processing technology. Microstructural studies demonstrate a two-step growth process in which the tip region, with a diameter of ~10 nm, rapidly grew from the Al2O3 surface and, later, a base growth with a diameter of ~22 nm overgrew the existing narrow ZnO NW, halting further tip growth. Kinetics studies showed that surface diffusion on the alumina seed surface determined ZnO NW growth rate.

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank Dr. Janet K. Lumpp for providing the flow controller and Dr. John Balk for help in the fabrication of TEM samples. The authors thank the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) under agreement number F49620-02-1-0225, National Science Foundation CAREER (0348544), and National Science Foundation Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NSF NIRT) (0609064). Support was also provided by the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineer-ing, Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and Electron Microscopy Center in University of Kentucky.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, USA

    Bing Hu, Nitin Chopra, Pawan Tyagi & Bruce Hinds

  2. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Center for Materials for Information Technology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487, USA

    Nitin Chopra

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  1. Bing Hu
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Hu, B., Chopra, N., Tyagi, P. et al. Selective lateral ZnO nanowire growth by surface diffusion on nanometer scale–patterned alumina on silicon. Journal of Materials Research 26, 2224–2231 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2011.57

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