Synthesis of single crystalline europium-doped ZnO nanowires

Single crystalline Eu3+-doped wurtzite zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires were synthesized by a vapor deposition method under a controlled oxidative atmosphere. The nanowires were deposited on a Si substrate coated with 5 nm gold nanoparticles. The reaction was carried out for 30 min which resulted in high yield of vertically grown nanowires of diameter 40–150 nm and length up to several microns. The nanowires were grown along ±[0 0 0 1] direction. The concentration of dopant Eu3+ in the synthesized nanowires was below 1 atomic %. The crystal structure and the microstructures of the doped nanostructures were studied and compared with undoped ZnO.