Polymer-Templated Hydrothermal Growth of Vertically Aligned Single-Crystal ZnO Nanorods and Morphological Transformations Using Structural Polarity

Position‐configurable, vertical, single‐crystalline ZnO nanorod arrays are fabricated via a polymer‐templated hydrothermal growth method at a low temperature of 93 °C. A sol‐gel processed dense c‐oriented ZnO seed layer film is employed to grow nanorods along the c‐axis direction [0001] regardless of any substrate crystal mismatches. Here, one‐beam laser‐interference lithography is utilized to fabricate nanoscale holes over an entire 2‐in. wafer during the preparation of the polymer template. As such, vertically aligned ZnO nanorods can be grown from the seed layer exposed at the bottom of each hole. Furthermore, morphological transformations of the ZnO nanorods into pencil‐like, needle‐like, tubular, tree‐like, and spherical shapes are obtained by controlling the growth conditions and utilizing the structural polarity of the ZnO nanorods. A polymer‐templated hydrothermal growth method enables the fabrication of individually position‐configurable, vertical, single‐crystalline ZnO nanorod arrays. A newly explored sol‐gel processed dense c‐oriented ZnO seed layer film is employed to grow nanorods along the c‐axis [0001] regardless of substrate crystal mismatch. By controlling their growth conditions and/or utilizing the structural polarity, the ZnO nanorods were successfully transformed into various nanostructures and integrated onto a range of substrates, thereby indicating a multitude of potential applications.