Optimization of carbothermic synthesis of zinc-oxide micro- and nanorod arrays and their morphometric parameters

The influence of argon-buffer pressure and distance from the material source on morphometric parameters of arrays of vertically aligned ZnO nano- and microrods was studied. The rods were grown by the carbothermic method on Si(100) substrates with a ZnO thin-film sublayer. Systematic studies of catalyst-free growth, as well as of the effect of growth catalysts Au and Cu on the rods’ formation process and their sizes, were performed. It was found that a catalyst plays a role only on the initial stage and does not participate in the consequent rods’ growth under the applied synthesis conditions. The possibility of controlling the average diameters, lengths, and densities of superficial distribution of the rods within the ranges of 100–300 nm, 1.5–9 $\mu$m, and 2.8–5.3 $\times$ 10$^8$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively, was demonstrated.