Low-temperature synthesis and characterization of unique hierarchical In2O3(ZnO)(10) superlattice nanostructures

Hierarchical In2O3(ZnO)(10) superlattice nanostructures were controllably synthesized in high yield by a simple chemical vapor deposition method, at low temperature. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy observations showed that In2O3(ZnO)(10) superlattice platelets regularly arrayed along axial In2O3(ZnO)(10) superlattice nanowires. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy results demonstrated that the two adjacent In-O layers sandwich eleven layered wurtzite In/Zn-O layers. X-Ray diffraction data for In2O3(ZnO)(10) were obtained to fill the gap in the JCPDS database. A possible growth mechanism is suggested in terms of the Stranski-Krastanow growth mode of semiconductor quantum dots. Low-temperature synthesis of hierarchical In2O3(ZnO)(10) superlattice nanostructures is an important step toward fabricating highly densely integrated functional nanodevices.