Synthesis and characterization of zinc sulfide nanobelts with periodically modulated thickness

•The ZnS nanobelts with periodically modulated thickness were synthesized by a controllable one-step CVD method.•These ZnS nanobelts show a pattern of periodical “color-bars” under white light illumination.•The color changing results from the periodic thickness changes along the ZnS nanobelt.•The PL shows a strong UV emission and a weak green emission.

Single crystalline and pure zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanobelts with periodically modulated thickness were synthesized through a controllable and simple one-step chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. These ZnS nanobelts show a pattern of periodical “color-bars” under white light illumination, resulting from the periodic thickness changes along the ZnS nanobelt. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) characterizations confirm the structure and morphology of the as-obtained ZnS nanobelts. A growth mechanism has also been proposed to understand the formation of the periodical “color-bars” structure. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) property was also been investigated.