Catalyst‐free growth and characterization of ZnO nanoscrewdrivers prepared by thermal evaporation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple physical evaporation route in which catalyst‐free zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoscrewdrivers were deposited on silicon (Si) (111) substrates.Design/methodology/approach – Prior to the deposition, the Si (111) wafer was cut into pieces of 2×2 cm2. Then, the wafers were dipped for 1 min into mixture buffered oxide etchant to remove native oxide. Then, the samples were rinsed in an ultrasonic bath cleaned with boiling acetone, ethanol, and de‐ionized (DI) water for 10 min. Lastly, the wafers were rinsed in 25 ml DI water in stirred and then were blown dry with nitrogen. In this technique, the starting material is high‐purity metallic zinc (Zn) powder (99.99 per cent pure). Following, the Zn films were then annealed under air environment in the furnace at 500°C for 1 h deprived of any catalysts.Findings – These ZnO samples were studied by scanning electron microscopy, high‐resolution X‐ray diffraction (HR‐XRD), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Atomic f...