Use of various growth catalysts for laser sputtering of ZnO micro- and nanorods

Pulsed laser deposition and various catalysts are used to fabricate ZnO micro- and nanorods at temperatures close to the optimum temperature for each catalyst. A comparative analysis of the optical and structural properties of the rods shows that, as the temperature of growth on Al$_2$O$_3$(11–20) substrates decreases, the internal stresses in the rods decrease, which improves their structure and optical properties. This effect is not observed for GaN/Si substrates because of the high stresses induced by the difference in the lattice parameters. An increase in the synthesis temperature leads to an increase in the lattice strains and the concentration of point defects, the relaxation of selection rules, and the appearance of numerous phonon A$_1$(LO) overtones. The lattice strains calculated from unit cell parameter a and the shift in the phonon A$_1$(LO) frequency agree qualitatively. The study of the photoluminescence of the rods shows that a decrease in the synthesis temperature decreases the imperfection of the ZnO rods and improves their optical properties for UV applications.