Effect of the ammoniating time on microstructure and morphology of one-dimensional Mg-doped GaN nanowires catalysed with Au

Abstract

Mg-doped GaN nanowires have been successfully synthesised on Si(1 1 1) substrates by magnetron sputtering through ammoniating Ga2O3/Au thin films, and the effect of ammoniating time on microstructure and morphology were analysed in detail. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectrum were carried out to characterise the microstructure, morphology and optical properties of the GaN samples. The results demonstrate that the nanowires after ammonification at 900°C for 15 min are single crystal GaN with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and high crystalline quality, having the size of 50–80 nm in diameter, more than 10 microns in length and good emission properties. The growth direction of this nanowire is parallel to [0 0 1] direction of hexagonal unit cell. Ammoniating time has a great impact on the microstructure, morphology and optical properties of the GaN nanowires.