Fabrication and photoluminescence of zinc silicate/silica modulated ZnO nanowires

Abstract

Zinc silicate/silica modulated ZnO nanowires have been successfully prepared by a chemical vapour deposition route. The nanowires have a uniform diameter of similar to 30 nm and length of 1 mu m. Photoluminescence spectra show four peaks at 382, 398, 478 and 520 nm. Two new additional peaks at 398 and 478 nm are assigned to modulation between ZnO and SiO2. The formation mechanism of the surface modified ZnO-based nanowires is also proposed.