Effect of atmosphere on growth of single crystal zinc oxide nanowires

Single crystal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires were prepared by using enhanced two-step vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism. The experimental results indicate that the growth rate and morphologies of the nanowires depends on the carrier gas ambient during the thermal reaction process. The ZnO nanowire grown with N^sub 2^, not only has the smaller diameter of about 30 nm but also exhibits a higher growth rate and larger number of density of nanowires per unit area than those grown with Ar. The photoluminescence measurements show that the ZnO nanowires grown with N^sub 2^ have a stronger ultraviolet emission than those grown with Ar.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]