Highly ordered growth of ZnO nanostructures by combination of nanoimprint lithography and hydrothermal method

By combining nanoimprint lithography and traditional hydrothermal growth method of ZnO nanorods, vertical and well patterned ZnO nanostructures were successfully fabricated. The imprinted SU-8 resist deep trenches above the ZnO seed layer prohibit the lateral growth of ZnO nanorods. Various patterned vertical ZnO nanostructures like nanorods and nanowalls can be obtained. The improvement of photoluminescence property of ZnO nanorods was observed after removing the SU-8 resist from the substrate by O₂ reactive ion etching (RIE).