Glancing angle deposition in a pulsed laser ablation/vapor–liquid–solid grow system

•ZnO nanowires were grown by PLD-VLS using a modified ‘eclipse’ configuration.•High repetition rate laser pulses trains were used for the material ablation.•Nanowire length is increasing on the Au patterned surface peripheries.•Nanowire length on the Au pattern periphery depends on the number of pulses per train.•Nanowire length in the pattern area centers is independent of the laser pulses train parameters. A high speed repetition rate laser was used in an ‘eclipse’ system configuration for growing ZnO nanowires on Au patterned substrates, using vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) technique. Experimental results have shown that the nanowire length increase in the vicinity of catalyst free areas and the grown length distribution over the catalyst covered areas depend on the number of the laser pulses per train. The results suggest that the nanowire over-growth, attributed to the particle surface diffusion, is effective in the ZnO VLS growth within about 100μm distances. ‘Glancing angle setup’ obtained for a submillimeter mask-substrate distance could provide control over VLS growing (or actually over ‘non-growing’) locations by suppressing the nanowire grow in the center of the catalyst covered areas.