Synthesis and photoluminescence of well aligned ZnO nanotube arrays by a simple chemical solution method

The oriented ZnO nanotube arrays have been synthesized by a chemical solution method on a silicon wafer coated with ZnO thin films via thermally decomposing zinc acetate at 2800C. The morphologies, phase structure and the photoluminescence (PL) properties were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. It was found that the outer diameters of the ZnO nanotube ranges from 200nm to 300 nm, and the wall thickness is in the range of 30nm to 40 nm. ZnO nanotubes prefer to grow along the c axis. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum shows a strong UV emission peaks at ∼380 nm and a broad green-yellow emission at ∼ 580 nm.