Nanofabrication of self-organized, three-dimensional epitaxial oxide nanorods

In this article, we address the nanofabrication process of self-organized, three-dimensional (3D) epitaxial oxide nanorods of perovskite La1−xSrxMnO3 and fluorite Gd2Zr2O7 using pulsed laser ablation. These nanorods are epitaxially grown on (001) LaAlO3 substrate and are well defined with a very narrow size distribution as studied by transmission electron microcopy. All of the nanorods are encapsulated by uniformly thick amorphous-like boundaries. The nanofabrication process leading to formation of 3D nanorods in these systems is discussed by considering the interplay of misfit strain energy and surface energy contributions.