Nucleation and growth mechanisms of ZnO heterostructures controlled by temperature and pressure of CVD

In this work, the ZnO nanostructures with different configurations were grown by using chemical vapour deposition. The morphologies of the above ZnO nanomaterials were characterized with scanning electron microscopy and the corresponding growth mechanisms were also investigated. It was demonstrated that the temperature, pressure, and time of exposure are intrinsic factors that dominate the morphologies of nanostructured ZnO. The temperature dominates different growth rates along different directions of the crystal, determining the shape of the grown ZnO structures. The pressure of furnace triggers the growth of ZnO structures from a nucleation zone, which also explains the variation of the growth direction. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.