Structure and optical spectrum of GaN nanorods produced on Si(111) substrates

A novel method is applied to prepare nanorods. In this method, nanorods have been successfully synthesized on Si(111) substrates through annealing sputtered Ga2O3/Nb films under flowing ammonia at 950 °C in a quartz tube. The as-synthesized nanorods are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The results show that the nanorod is single-crystalline GaN. It has a diameter of about 200 nm and lengths typically up to several micrometers. Photoluminescence spectrum under excitation at 325 nm only exhibits a UV light emission peak is located at about 368.5 nm. Finally, the growth mechanism of nanorods is also briefly discussed.