Fabrication of GaN nanowires and nanorods catalyzed with tantalum

Single-crystalline GaN nanowires and nanorods have been fabricated through ammoniating Ga(2)O(3) films catalyzed with tantalum (Ta) by RF magnetron sputtering, and microstructure, morphology and optical properties were investigated in particular. The results indicate that the nanowires have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with size about 50 nm in diameter and more than ten microns in length, however, the nanorods are rod-like structures with smooth surface and 100-300 nm in diameter. The growth direction of these nanostructures are perpendicular to the (100) crystal plane. The photoluminescence spectrum at room temperature exhibits a strong UV light emission band centered at 364 nm.