Nanobelts of Semiconducting Oxides

TLDR

Beltlike morphology is a distinctive, common structural feature of semiconducting oxides with varied cation valence states and crystallographic structures. The study aims to use nanobelts to investigate dimensionally confined transport phenomena in functional oxides and to develop devices along individual nanobelts. The authors synthesized ultralong beltlike nanostructures of zinc, tin, indium, cadmium, and gallium oxides by evaporating commercial metal oxide powders at high temperatures. The synthesized nanobelts are pure, structurally uniform, single crystalline, defect‑free, with rectangular cross‑sections 30–300 nm wide, width‑to‑thickness ratios of 5–10, and lengths up to several millimeters.

Abstract

Ultralong beltlike (or ribbonlike) nanostructures (so-called nanobelts) were successfully synthesized for semiconducting oxides of zinc, tin, indium, cadmium, and gallium by simply evaporating the desired commercial metal oxide powders at high temperatures. The as-synthesized oxide nanobelts are pure, structurally uniform, and single crystalline, and most of them are free from defects and dislocations. They have a rectanglelike cross section with typical widths of 30 to 300 nanometers, width-to-thickness ratios of 5 to 10, and lengths of up to a few millimeters. The beltlike morphology appears to be a distinctive and common structural characteristic for the family of semiconducting oxides with cations of different valence states and materials of distinct crystallographic structures. The nanobelts could be an ideal system for fully understanding dimensionally confined transport phenomena in functional oxides and building functional devices along individual nanobelts.