Surface behavior modification by forming surface-transparent conductive nanowires (NWs) is an important technique for many applications, particularly when the polarities of the NWs can be controlled. The polarities of Ga-doped ZnO (GaZnO) NWs grown on templates of different polarities under different growth conditions are studied for exploring a polarity control growth technique. The NWs are formed on Ga- and N-face GaN through the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process using Ag nanoparticles as growth catalyst. The NWs grown on templates of different polarities under the Zn- (O-) rich conditions are always Zn (O) polar. During the early stage of NW growth, because the lattice sizes among different nucleation islands formed at the triple-phase line are quite different, high-density planar defects are produced when lateral growths from multiple nucleation islands form a GaZnO double bilayer. In this situation, frequent domain inversions occur, and GaZnO polarity is unstable. Under the Zn- (O-) rich conditions, because the lateral growth rate of GaZnO in the Zn- (O-) polar structure is higher due to more available dangling bonds, the growth of the Zn- (O-) polar structure dominates NW formation such that the NW eventually becomes Zn (O) polar irrespective of the polarity of the growth template. Therefore, the polarity of a doped-ZnO NW can be controlled simply by the relative supply rates of Zn and O during VLS growth.
Keywords: Ga-doped ZnO nanowire; catalyst; polarity; triple-phase line; vapor−liquid−solid growth.