Local structural properties and growth mechanism of ZnO nanorods grown on various substrates

We present the systematic study of the growth mechanism of ZnO nanorods grown on Al₂O₃ substrates with ZnO homo-buffer, n-GaN and p-GaN interlayers. Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods with diameter of 50 nm and lengths of range of 0.1 - 2 μm were synthesized at the substrate temperature of 350 - 500 °C by catalyst-free metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. A thin ZnO film was observed underneath the ZnO nanorods grown on Al ₂O₃, ZnO homo-buffer layers and p-GaN interlayers and the film thickness varied from 0.1 μm to 0.55 μm depending on the substrates while the film was negligible on an n-GaN interlayer. The residual strain of the ZnO nanorods grown on Al₂O₃ substrates was reduced to less than one fifth of the original value by employing a n-GaN interlayer. The n-GaN interlayer also enhanced the orientations among the nanorods in the ab-plane. The extended x-ray absorption fine structure measurements revealed that there were a substantial amount of disorders in the bonding lengths of the Zn-O pairs in the beginning of the ZnO nanorod growth on the Al ₂O₃ substrates with and without the n-GaN interlayer. The disorders of the Zn-O pairs located near the ab-plane were decreased as the nanorod length was increased above 0.1 μm implying that the strain relaxation of the ZnO crystals in the ab-plane was critical in the formation of ZnO nanorods.