Optical properties of single-crystalline ZnO nanowires on <i>m</i>-sapphire

Abstract

ZnO nanowires have been synthesized using a catalyst-assisted heteroepitaxial carbothermal reduction approach on a m-sapphire substrate. Intricate and uniform arrays have been obtained with each nanowire forming an angle ∼30° with the substrate normal. Photoluminescence studies at room temperature for wavelengths between 335 and 620 nm reveal a strong single exciton peak at ∼380 nm (3.26 eV) with accompanying deep-level blueshifted emission peaks at ∼486, 490, and 510 nm. UV resonant Raman spectroscopy has been used to characterize the nanowires at room temperature with multiphonon scattering exhibiting phonon quantum confinement.