Catalyst size limitation in vapor–liquid–solid ZnO nanowire growth using pulsed laser deposition

Using a pulsed laser deposition system in a plane reflector configuration, we have grown single crystal ZnO nanowires using different gold catalyst quantities and different local particle fluxes. The number of ZnO nanowire over the square micrometer substrate surface proved to depend on both gold quantity and particle flux, in specific conditions. If for a “low particle flux” the nanowire density seems to strongly depend on the gold quantity, for a “high particle flux”, the dependence is no longer observable. The results were interpreted in terms of the catalyst absorbed particle concentration dependence on the catalyst droplet size and incident particle flux.