Helical structure of single-crystalline ZnGa2O4 nanowires.

Two unique helical zinc gallate (ZnGa2O4) nanostructures were synthesized by thermal evaporation using the zinc selenide (ZnSe) nanowires; helical ZnGa2O4 nanowire rolls either on a straight ZnSe nanowire support or without any support. They all consist of single-crystalline cubic ZnGa2O4 crystals without any dislocation over the entire helical structure and have four equivalent growth directions of 011 with the axial direction of [001]. We suggest that the lattice matching with the ZnSe nanowires would be an important factor in determining the growth direction of the helical ZnGa2O4 nanowires.