Nanowall-Shaped MgO Substrate with Flat (100) Sidesurface: A New Route to Three-Dimensional Functional Oxide Nanostructured Electronics

Abstract

An architecturally designed nanowall-shaped MgO (nanowall MgO) was fabricated by the combination of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). The sidesurface on the nanowall MgO exhibited (111) facets with edge truncation instead of the most stable (100) face when the aspect ratio between the height and width of the nanowall MgO was lower than 0.7. By optimizing the surface crystallography, typically by designing the nanowall aspect ratio and controlling the postannealing treatment conditions, nanowall MgO with a single-crystal flat (100) sidesurface could be produced. Applying the nanowall MgO to a substrate, we demonstrated the formation of extremely small three-dimensional (3D) epitaxial metal oxide nanostructures with an arbitrarily controlled size. The nanofabrication technique utilizing the nanowall MgO substrate will open a new route to high-quality 3D epitaxial metal oxide nanostructures.