Reduction of Zinc Oxide Thin Films to Form Zinc Metallic Seeds for Silicon Nanowire Growth

A method for reduction of poly-crystalline zinc oxide films to generate uniform pure zinc particles for VLS (vapor-liquid-solid) growth of silicon nanowires is presented. A uniform zinc oxide film is sputtered onto a glass substrate and then treated in a plasma reducing environment at 419 $^{\circ}$C to produce pure zinc metal particles on the films surface. These particles may act as the liquid metal catalyst required for VLS growth of oriented silicon nanowires.