Heteroepitaxial ZnO nano hexagons on p-type SiC

ZnO single crystal nanohexagons have been grown heteroepitaxially on p-type Si-face 4H–SiC substrates with 8° miscut from [0 0 0 1] by catalyst-free atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as energy disperse x-ray and cathodoluminescence analyses. The as-grown ZnO nanohexagons have a pillar shape terminated by a and c plane facets, and are aligned along the growth direction with the epitaxial relation [0 0 0 1]ZnO‖[0 0 0 1]4H–SiC and [101¯0]ZnO∥[101¯0]4H-SiC. The ZnO nanohexagons demonstrate intense UV emission (λNBE=376 nm) and negligible defect-related luminescence.