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ZnO Nanowires Grown by Chemical Bath Deposition in a Continuous Flow Microreactor
Journal article   Peer reviewed

ZnO Nanowires Grown by Chemical Bath Deposition in a Continuous Flow Microreactor

Kevin M. McPeak and Jason B. Baxter
Crystal growth & design, v 9(10), pp 4538-4545
01 Oct 2009

Abstract

Chemistry Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Crystallography Materials Science Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Physical Sciences Science & Technology Technology
We report on a continuous flow microreactor for chemical bath deposition that enables rapid process characterization. The chemical bath flows through a submillimeter channel and material is deposited on a heated glass/silicon substrate that serves as one reactor wall. The microreactor operates in plug flow; bath composition changes as a function of distance down the reaction channel but the concentration profile is time-invariant. Spatially resolved characterization of the substrate enables rapid and direct correlation of material properties to growth conditions, which is not possible with a batch reactor where bath composition changes with time. We have used this microreactor to grow dense arrays of well-aligned, single-crystal ZnO nanowires. Slow flow rates result in nanowires whose lengths, growth mechanisms, and optical properties vary along the length of the substrate; fast flow rates produce nanowires that are more spatially uniform. Spatially resolved characterization of a single substrate reveals that, along the direction of flow, nanowire lengths decreased, morphology changed from pyramidal tops to flat tops, growth mechanism transitioned from two-dimensional nuclei to spiral growth, and band gap blue-shifted because of compressive strain. The continuous flow microreactor, demonstrated here for ZnO, can also be used to deposit other oxide and chalcogenide nanowires and thin films.

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Web of Science research areas
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Crystallography
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
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