Growth of ultra-long ZnO microtubes using a modified vapor-solid setup

Abstract

In this work, we have modified the experimental setup for a vapor-solid (VS) process to synthesize Zinc oxide (ZnO) microtubes (MTs) with lengths up to 3 mm during a 90-min growth period. The critical idea behind this modification is to control the distribution of Zn vapor along the Si substrates. The morphology evolution of ZnO structures with the increasing reaction time was particularly explored. We found that, within the 90-min growth period, four different types of ZnO microstructures appeared in this synthesis process: microrods (MRs), short MTs, two-tier structures, and long MTs. Growth mechanisms were proposed to interpret the formation of these structures.