In this work highly regular, single-crystalline nanopillar arrays with tunable shapes and geometry are synthesized by the template-assisted vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism. The grown nanopillars faithfully reproduce the shape of the pores because during the growth the liquid catalyst seeds fill the space available, thereby conforming to the pore geometry. The process is highly generic for various material systems, and as an example, CdS and Ge nanopillar arrays with square, rectangular, and circular cross- sections are demonstrated. This technique has great potential im many projects including photonics and engineering the intrinsic properties of NPLs as a function of three independently controlled dimensional parameters - length, width and height,while utilizing extremely smooth pores sidewalls.
Project end date: 08/18/11