title: Solution phase van der Waals epitaxy of ZnO wire arrays.
abstract: As an incommensurate epitaxy, van der Waals epitaxy allows defect-free crystals to grow on substrates even with a large lattice mismatch. Furthermore, van der Waals epitaxy is proposed as a universal platform where heteroepitaxy can be achieved irrespective of the nature of the overlayer material and the method of crystallization. Here we demonstrate van der Waals epitaxy in solution phase synthesis for seedless and catalyst-free growth of ZnO wire arrays on phlogopite mica at low temperature. A unique incommensurate interface is observed even with the incomplete initial wetting of ZnO onto the substrate. Interestingly, the imperfect contacting layer does not affect the crystalline and optical properties of other parts of the wires. In addition, we present patterned growth of a well-ordered array with hexagonal facets and in-plane alignment. We expect our seedless and catalyst-free solution phase van der Waals epitaxy synthesis to be widely applicable in other materials and structures.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Muhammad Iqbal Bakti
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Utama
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de la Mata
authors.forename: Yanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Cesar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magen
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arbiol
authors.forename: Qihua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiong