Artificial control of ZnO nanodots by ion-beam nanopatterning

Abstract

The use of focused ion-beam (FIB) nanopatterning for manipulating self-assembled ZnO nanodots is described. Highly aligned ZnO-nanodot arrays with various periodicities (e.g., 750, 190, and 100 nm) on FIB-nanopatterned SiO2∕Si substrates were prepared by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD). The artificially assembled ZnO nanodots had an amorphous structure. Ga atoms incorporated into the surface areas of FIB-patterned nanoholes during FIB engraving were found to play an important role in the artificial control of ZnO, resulting in the production of ZnO nanodots on the FIB-nanopatterned areas. The nanodots evolved into single-crystalline dot clusters and rods with increasing MOCVD-growth time. In addition, microphotoluminescence measurements showed that the ZnO-nanodot arrays have low-dimensional quantum characteristics.