Novel low temperature solution deposition of perpendicularly orientated rods of ZnO: substrate effects and evidence of the importance of counter-ions in the control of crystallite growth.

Perpendicularly orientated ZnO rods have been grown on thin ZnO templates, from aqueous solutions of zinc acetate and hexamethylenetetraamine (HMT); growth along the c-axis of the ZnO crystallites is promoted by the presence of acetate in the bath.