Photoluminescence from quasi-dendritic ZnO nanostructures grown in anodic alumina nanochannels
Journal
Materials Research Express
Journal Volume
2
Journal Issue
11
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Chen, S.-Y.
Chen, W.-L.
Ko, C.-T.
Lai, M.-Y.
Li, F.-C.
Lee, Y.-Y.
Tsai, K.-T.
Chen, M.-J.
Abstract
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been used to grow zinc oxide (ZnO) into a template of anodic aluminum oxide with quasi-dendritic nanochannels to form quasi-dendritic nanostructures. The characteristic photoluminescence (PL) emission from the inner region of the quasi-dendritic ZnO nanostructure peaks at 397 nm while that from its outer region at 424 nm. In between the two regions, the PL peak shows monotonic shift. In other words, the different layers of the single quasi-dendritic ZnO nanostructure emit PL with graded wavelengths spontaneously. The red shift in the PL peak positions is likely to be caused by the change in local stoichiometry between Zn and O, which are resulted from the limited supply of materials through the quasi-dendritic nanochannels during the ALD. The process to fabricate such quasi-dendritic ZnO nanostructures with spontaneously graded emission could help expand applications of ZnO-based devices.
Type
journal article