Growth of ZnO Soccer Ball Structures by Using Vapor Phase Transport

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) was grown on a Au-catalyzed Si(100) substrate by using a simple vapor phase transport (VPT) with a mixture of zinc oxide and graphite powders. The ZnO grown at 800 ◦C had a soccer ball structure with diameters of <500 nm. The ZnO soccer ball structure was, for the first time, observed in this work. The structural and the optical properties of the ZnO soccer balls were investigated by using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. The preferred orientation of the ZnO soccer balls was along the c-axis with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The ZnO soccer balls exhibited an overall tensile residual stress, and the bond length of Zn-O was 1.951 A. In the room-temperature PL of the ZnO soccer balls, a near-band-edge emission (NBE) and a deep-level emission were observed at 3.25 and 2.47 eV, respectively. The full width at half maximum of the NBE peak was 110 meV.