Large-scale growth of density-tunable aligned ZnO nanorods arrays on GaN QDs

An effective approach for growing large-scale, uniformly aligned ZnO nanorods arrays is demonstrated. The synthesis uses a GaN quantum dot (QD) template produced by a self-assembled Stranski-Krastanow mode in metal organic chemical vapor deposition, which serves as a nucleation site for ZnO owing to the QD's high surface free energy. The resultant ZnO nanorods with uniform shape and length align vertically on the template, while their density is easily tunable by adjusting the density of GaN QDs, which can be adjusted by simply varying growth interruption. By controlling the density of ZnO nanorod arrays, their optical performance can also be improved. This approach opens the possibility of combining one-dimensional (1D) with 0D nanostructures for applications in sensor arrays, piezoelectric antenna arrays, optoelectronic devices, and interconnects.