Growth and structural characterization of well-aligned RuO2 nanorods on LiNbO3 (1Â 0Â 0) via MOCVD

We report the preparation of well-aligned RuO2 nanorods (NRs) on LiNbO3(1 0 0) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl) ruthenium (II) as the source reagent. The surface morphology and structural properties of the as-grown NRs were characterized by using field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The growth pattern initiated with nucleation of both (0 0 1) and (3 0 1) planes at the substrate surface, but eventually NRs with (0 0 1) growth plane outgrew and formed vertically aligned NRs on top of the mixed alignments at the interface. The observed epitaxial growth patterns are explained in terms of the relationship between the atomic arrangements of the substrate and the NRs and the c-directional growth mechanism.