Lasing action of ZnO nanowires grown by mist chemical vapor deposition using thin Au layer on c-plane sapphire substrate

ZnO nanowires were grown by mist chemical vapor deposition at a growth temperature of approximately 900 °C (tube furnace temperature) on a c-plane sapphire substrate sputtered with a thin Au layer with a designed thickness of 3 nm. ZnO nanowires of various lengths were grown, and their optical properties were investigated by room-temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL) measurements under high excitation conditions. The RT-PL spectra having sharp peaks may be capable of lasing actions. The result shows that this fabrication technique is useful for obtaining optical microcavities based on ZnO nanowires.