Regular ZnO nanopillar arrays by nanosphere photolithography

Abstract

Highly regular vertical ZnO nanopillar arrays were hydrothermally grown through a nucleation window pattern generated by nanosphere photolithography. The in-plane intensity modulation of the exposing ultraviolet light in the photoresist was performed by Stöber silica or polystyrene nanospheres in the masking Langmuir–Blodgett monolayer. By comparing six different nanosphere diameters in the 180–700nm range only those with diameter above the exposure wavelength of 405nm generate a pattern in the thin photoresist layer. The pattern quality is improving with increasing diameter, therefore, the masking for nanopillar growth was demonstrated with 700nm polystyrene nanospheres. The results of the nanosphere photolithography were supported by finite-difference time-domain calculations. This growth approach was shown to have the potential for low-cost, low-temperature, large area fabrication of ZnO pillars or nanowires enabling a precise engineering of geometry.