Growth habit of polar crystal ZnO by solid-vapor method

Abstract

Crystals of semiconductor ZnO were fabricated by means of solid-vapor growth method—carbon thermal reduction. Powder X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscope were used to characterize the phase and morphology of the samples. The results showed that the samples were wurtzite ZnO crystals and anisotropy of crystal growth relied on reaction temperature in solid-vapor process. The crystals synthesized at different temperatures were of short column-like shape, flat top hexagon pyramidal-like shape and polyhedron shape. The growth mechanisms of the above three kinds of crystal were consistent with the theory of growth basic structural unit of negative ion coordination polyhedron. At first, Zn²⁺ and four O²⁻ form [Zn-O₄]⁶⁻ coordination tetrahedron at any temperature. Then, tetrahedrons stack in different ways into different morphology crystal at different temperatures.

Keywords

zinc oxide / polar crystal / micro-morphology / polyhedron / growth mechanism

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