Growth of CdS Nanoneedles by Pulsed Laser Deposition

CdS nanoneedles have been grown on Ni-coated Si (100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Substrate temperature and Ni-catalyst layer thickness were found to have great effects on the density and morphology of the as-grown CdS nanoneedles. Crystalline CdS nanoneedles with middle diameter and length of about 40 nm to 100 nm and 400 nm to 1000 nm, respectively, could be obtained at 350°C to 450°C on Ni-coated silicon (100) substrates, and nanoneedles with good shapes were obtained at 400°C substrate temperature. From the cross-section morphologies, it was found that the CdS nanoneedles grew out of the base CdS crystallite layer with thickness of about 500 nm. Based on the experimental results, vapor–solid and vapor–liquid–solid growth modes describe the CdS nanoneedle growth.