Synthesis and optical properties of ZnO nanowires for nanophotonics

High quality ZnO nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition using both a catalyst-assisted vapor-liquid-solid and a catalyst-free vapor-solid deposition approach. And their optical properties studied using photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Strong UV near band edge along with defect related visible luminescence emissions were observed and their relative intensity compared. We report here the growth of ZnO nanowires by chemical vapor deposition using both a catalyst-assisted vapor-liquid-solid and a catalyst-free vapor-solid deposition approach. The nanowires were characterized through scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, optical absorption, micro-photoluminescence, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and Terahertz time domain spectroscopy.