Oxidation of MBE-Grown ZnTe and ZnTe/Zn Nanowires and Their Structural Properties |
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Authors: | Katarzyna Gas Slawomir Kret Wojciech Zaleszczyk Eliana Kamiska Maciej Sawicki Tomasz Wojtowicz Wojciech Szuszkiewicz |
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Institution: | 1.Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Aleja Lotnikow 32/46, PL-02668 Warsaw, Poland; (S.K.); (W.Z.); (M.S.); (W.S.);2.International Research Centre MagTop, Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Aleja Lotnikow 32/46, PL-02668 Warsaw, Poland;3.Institute of High Pressure Physics Unipress, Al. Prymasa Tysiaclecia 98, PL-01142 Warsaw, Poland;4.Institute of Physics, College of Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszow, S. Pigonia 1, PL-35310 Rzeszow, Poland |
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Abstract: | Results of comparative structural characterization of bare and Zn-covered ZnTe nanowires (NWs) before and after thermal oxidation at 300 °C are presented. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and Raman scattering not only unambiguously confirm the conversion of the outer layer of the NWs into ZnO, but also demonstrate the influence of the oxidation process on the structure of the inner part of the NWs. Our study shows that the morphology of the resulting ZnO can be improved by the deposition of thin Zn shells on the bare ZnTe NWs prior to the oxidation. The oxidation of bare ZnTe NWs results in the formation of separated ZnO nanocrystals which decorate crystalline Te cores of the NWs. In the case of Zn-covered NWs, uniform ZnO shells are formed, however they are of a fine-crystalline structure or partially amorphous. Our study provides an important insight into the details of the oxidation processes of ZnTe nanostructures, which could be of importance for the preparation and performance of ZnTe based nano-devices operating under normal atmospheric conditions and at elevated temperatures. |
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Keywords: | nanowires ZnTe ZnO oxidation core/shell structures Raman scattering transmission electron microscopy structural analysis semiconductors |
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