Fabrication and green emission of ZnO nanowire arrays

Well-aligned single-crystalline wurzite zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire arrays were successfully fabricated on a Si substrate by a simple physical vapor-deposition (PVD) method at a relatively low temperature of about 500°C. The as-fabricated nanowires were preferentially arranged along the [001] direction of ZnO. The photoluminescence spectrum of ZnO nanowire arrays showed two emission bands: a strong green emission at around 500 nm and a weak ultraviolet emission at 380 nm. The strong green light emission was related to the existence of the oxygen vacancies in ZnO crystals. Corresponding growth mechanism of the ZnO nanowires was briefly discussed.