Size-controlled, high optical quality ZnO nanowires grown using colloidal Au nanoparticles and ultra-small cluster catalysts

Size-controlled ZnO nanowires were grown by eclipse pulsed laser deposition using Au colloids and ultra-small (sub 2 nm) Au₁₀₁ and Au₉ clusters as catalysts, tethered to c-plane sapphire substrates using aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS). A strong correlation was observed between ZnO nanowire tip diameter and Au catalyst size, with no apparent lower limit to the size of Au nanoparticles able to catalyze nanowire growth. All ZnO nanowires produced intense ultraviolet photoluminescence with almost no visible defect band emission that is commonly observed in ZnO-based materials, including nanowires. A correlation was also observed between the quality of the ultraviolet photoluminescence (in terms of decreasing exciton line widths and surface-related emission) and decreasing ZnO nanowire diameter, with the highest quality emission obtained using Au9 atomically precise cluster catalysts, used here as catalysts for ZnO growth for the first time.