A novel self-catalytic route to zinc stannate nanowires and cathodoluminescence and electrical transport properties of a single nanowire

• A simple CVD method was employed to fabricate ZTO NWs without using catalyst.
• The average length of single-crystal ZTO NWs is up to several tens of micrometers.
• The CL of a single nanowire contains a strong and broad red emission.
• The electric characterization reveals that The ZTO is an N-type semiconductor.

A simple chemical vapor evaporation (CVD) method has been employed to fabricate zinc stannate (Zn2SnO4) inverse spinel nanowires without using any catalyst. It is found that the Zn2SnO4 (ZTO) nanowires are single crystals and their average length is up to several tens of micrometers. Based on the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, the mechanism in the formation of the Zn-rich ZTO nanowires has been deduced, and it is found that the growth of the wires follows a self-catalytic vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism. The cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrum of a single nanowire contains a strong and broad red emission, which is originated from the disordered spinel structure induced by the substitution of excess Zn ion for the sites of the Sn ions. The electrical transport measurement of a single ZTO nanowire reveals that it is an N-type semiconductor behavior. The calculated resistivity without gate voltage is ca. 1.6 Ωcm−1 at 300 K. The gate-dependence plot shows a distinguish gate control for the voltage ranged between −10 and 30 V, and the resistance decreased almost linearly with increasing gate voltage.

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