Carbothermal Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanorod Arrays

An influence of buffer Ar gas pressure and substance-to-source distance on morphometric parameters of vertically aligned ZnO nano- and the microrod arrays synthesized by a carbothermal reduction process on Si (100) substrates covered by ZnO sub-layer is determined. Systematical researches of catalyst-free growth, as well as influence of catalytic agent type (such, as Au and Cu) on formation process and the morphometrical parameters of the produced rods are carried out. It is shown that the catalytic agent plays a role only at the initial stage, and does not participate in the further growth of rods in applied synthesis conditions. Possibility to control the average diameters, lengths and surface distribution density of the rods in the ranges of 100-300 nm, 1.5-9 mu m and 2.8 x 10(8)-5.3 x 10(8) cm(-2), respectively, is shown.