Synthesis and interface structures of zinc sulfide sheathed zinc-cadmium nanowire heterojunctions

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) sheathed zinc (Zn)-cadmium (Cd) nanowire heterojunctions have been prepared by thermal evaporating of ZnS and CdS powders in a vertical induction furnace at 1200 °C. Studies found that both the Zn and Cd subnanowires, within a single nanoheterojunction, are single-crystallines with the growth directions perpendicular to the [2110] plane, whereas the sheathed ZnS is polycrystalline with a thickness of ca. 5 nm. The Zn/Cd interface structure in the ZnS sheathed Zn-Cd nanowire heterojunctions was thoroughly experimentally studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and theoretically studied using a near-coincidence site lattice (NCSL) concept. The results show that the Cd and Zn have a crystalline orientation relationship as [0001]_Zn//[0001]_Cd, (101̄0)_zn// (101̄0)_cd, (011̄0)_zn//(11̄00)_Cd, and (1̄100)_Zn//(1̄100)_Cd.