Catalyst-free MOCVD growth of aligned ZnO nanotip arrays on silicon substrate with controlled tip shape

Quasi-aligned zinc oxide nanotip arrays have been grown by MOCVD without using catalyst. The tip shape was controlled systematically by varying the gas flow rate, demonstrating a technique for growing tip arrays of ZnO on silicon. This technology can be large-scale on the wafer level and it has the potential to be directly integrated with clean room silicon technology. The diameter of these ZnO nanowires or nanotips could be controlled by the varying of source flow rate, providing a simple but unique way of fabricating ZnO nanotip arrays for application in field emission and nanogenerators.