Synthesis of GaN nanorods using Tantalum catalyst by magnetron sputtering

Institute of Semiconductor, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, P.R. China

Corresponding author: xuechengshan@sdnu.edu.cn

Received: 23 May 2007
Revised: 9 August 2007
Accepted: 14 August 2007
Published online: 31 October 2007

Abstract

Single crystalline wurzite GaN nanorods are successfully synthesized on the tantalum catalyzed Si substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. The products are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) and photoluminescence (PL). The results show that the nanorods have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with diameters ranging from 80 to 200 nm and lengths typically up to 10 µm. The PL spectrum exhibits a strong UV light emission at 364 nm. The growth mechanism of the crystalline GaN nanorods is discussed briefly.